A Revision of the Tasmanian Freshwater Crayfish Genus Astacopsis Huxley (Decapoda: Parastacidae)
Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Volume 126, 1992 91 A REVISION OF THE TASMANIAN FRESHWATER CRAYFISH GENUS ASTACOPSIS HUXLEY (DECAPODA: PARASTACIDAE). by Premek Hamr (with three text-figures) HAMR, P., 1992 (31 :x): A revision of the Tasmanian freshwater crayfish genus Astacopsis Huxley (Dccapoda: ·Parastacidae). Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasm. 126: 91-94. ISSN 0080-4703. 28 Undercliffe Ave, Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 3HI, Canada: formerly Department of Zoology, University of Tasmania. During a broad study of the biology of the freshwater in rhe Tasmanian genus fWO distinct forms of Astacopsis franklinii were recognised. These "forms" were found to diffcr in terms of their general morphology and distribution. As a result, the taxonomy of Astacopsis has been revised to re-establish the three species originally described by Ellen Clark. Astacopsis franklinii Gray has been divided into fWO separate species, the eastern Astacopsis franklinti and the western Astacopsis tricorn is, while the status ofArtacopsis gouldi remains unaltered. Key Words: Astacopsis, Tasmania, distribution, taxonomy. INTRODUCTION to vary greatly in size and spininess. In their re-examination of the various morphological characters, Swain et al. (1982) The members of the genus Astacopsis, which include the found that the variation in spininess and size had a world's largest freshwater crayfish (and therefore invertebrate) geographical basis. It will be shown in this study that this species, are associated with riverine and lacustrine habitats variation is, in fact, at least partly due to the occurrence of throughout Tasmania (Swain et al. 1982). Taxonomically two distinct forms within A. franklinii, and it is further and ecologically their closest relatives are the crayfishes of the proposed that these two forms should be treated as two genera Euastacus and Astacoides (Hobbs 1987,1988, Riek separate species.
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