Cherax neopunctatus (a , no common name) Ecological Risk Screening Summary

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, September 2011 Revised, September 2012 and December 2017 Web Version, 5/17/2018

1 Native Range and Status in the United States Native Range From Coughran et al. (2008):

“Riek (1969) […] described neopunctatus Riek from four sites in the Ballina-Coffs Harbour region [northeastern New South Wales, ].”

Status in the United States This species has not been reported as introduced or established in the United States. There is no evidence that C. neopunctatus is in trade in the United States.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has listed the crayfish Cherax neopunctatus as a prohibited species. Prohibited nonnative species “are considered to be dangerous to the ecology and/or the health and welfare of the people of Florida. These species are not allowed to be personally possessed or used for commercial activities” (FFWCC 2017).

From Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (2017):

“(1) Prohibited aquatic species. RCW 77.12.020

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These species are considered by the commission to have a high risk of becoming an invasive species and may not be possessed, imported, purchased, sold, propagated, transported, or released into state waters except as provided in RCW 77.15.253. […] The following species are classified as prohibited animal species: […] Family : Crayfish: All genera except , and except the species Cherax quadricarninatus [sic], Cherax papuanus, and .”

Means of Introduction into the United States This species has not been reported as introduced or established in the United States.

Remarks The taxonomic standing of Cherax neopunctatus has varied by author, but a recent comprehensive crayfish by Crandall and De Grave (2017) recognizes C. neopunctatus as a species separate from C. cuspidatus, as do GBIF Secretariat (2017) and Crandall (2016).

From Coughran et al. (2008):

“Cherax neopunctatus was synonymised with C. cuspidatus by Austin (1996).”

2 Biology and Ecology Taxonomic Hierarchy and Taxonomic Standing From Crandall (2016):

“Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Arthropoda (Phylum) > Crustacea (Subphylum) > Multicrustacea (Superclass) > () > (Subclass) > (Superorder) > (Order) > Pleocyemata (Suborder) > (Infraorder) > Parastacoidea (Superfamily) > Parastacidae (Family) > Cherax () > Cherax neopunctatus (Species) Status: accepted”

Size, Weight, and Age Range No information available.

Environment From Fetzner (2017):

“[…] freshwater […]”

From Coughran et al. (2008):

“Merrick (1993) cites an upper temperature tolerance (for C. neopunctatus) of 38°C […]”

Climate/Range

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From Fetzner (2017):

“Known only from limited area.”

Distribution Outside the United States Native From Coughran et al. (2008):

“Riek (1969) […] described Cherax neopunctatus Riek from four sites in the Ballina-Coffs Harbour region [northeastern New South Wales, Australia].”

Introduced No introductions of this species have been reported.

Means of Introduction Outside the United States No introductions of this species have been reported.

Short Description From Coughran et al. (2008):

“The spine/tubercle at the apical end of the postorbital ridges is variable in development. In some specimens the ridge ends in a blunt spine, or ‘tubercle’, and in other specimens it is produced to a sharp spine. For this feature, Riek (1969) recorded a ‘sharp spine’ in his diagnosis of C. cuspidatus, and a ‘tubercle’ in his diagnosis of C. neopunctatus.”

“Riek’s (1969) diagnoses for both C. cuspidatus and C. neopunctatus record a tuft of setae on the mesial margin of the carpus.”

Biology From Fetzner (2017):

“Burrowing, detritus-feeder, […] nocturnal.”

Human Uses No information available.

Diseases No information available.

Threat to Humans No information available.

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3 Impacts of Introductions No information available. No introductions of this species have been reported.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC 2017) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (2017) have listed this species as a prohibited species.

4 Global Distribution

Figure 1. Known global distribution of C. neopunctatus. The species has been reported exclusively in Australia. Map from GBIF Secretariat (2017).

5 Distribution within the United States This species has not been reported as introduced or established in the United States.

6 Climate Matching Summary of Climate Matching Analysis The climate match (Sanders et al. 2014; 16 climate variables; Euclidean Distance) for Cherax neopunctatus was medium in the southeastern U.S. and along the northern Gulf Coast of Texas. The remainder of the contiguous U.S. showed low climate match. Climate6 score indicated that the contiguous U.S. has a low climate match overall. The range of scores classified as low match is 0.000-0.005; Climate6 score for C. neopunctatus was 0.000.

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Figure 2. RAMP (Sanders et al. 2014) source map showing weather stations in northeastern New South Wales in Australia selected as source locations (red) and non-source locations (gray) for Cherax neopunctatus climate matching. Source locations provided by GBIF Secretariat (2017).

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Figure 3. Map of RAMP (Sanders et al. 2014) climate matches for Cherax neopunctatus in the contiguous United States based on source locations reported by GBIF Secretariat (2017). 0=Lowest match, 10=Highest match.

The “High”, “Medium”, and “Low” climate match categories are based on the following table:

Climate 6: Proportion of Climate Match (Sum of Climate Scores 6-10) / (Sum of total Climate Scores) Category 0.0000.103 High

7 Certainty of Assessment Little information is available on the biology, ecology, and distribution of Cherax neopunctatus. Taxonomic uncertainty has led to C. neopunctatus being synonymized with C. cuspidatus by some authors, which may have resulted in some species-specific information being lost or overlooked. Current authors appear to agree that C. neopunctatus and C. cuspidatus are different

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species. No introductions of this species have been reported, so impacts of introduction remain unknown. Certainty of this assessment is low.

8 Risk Assessment Summary of Risk to the Contiguous United States Cherax neopunctatus is a crayfish native to coastal northern New South Wales, Australia. The native range is limited in extent and the species has an overall low climate match to the contiguous U.S. Highest climate matches occurred in the Southeast U.S. There is no history of introduction of C. neopunctatus. Florida and Washington prohibit the possession or trade of C. neopunctatus. The overall risk posed by this species is uncertain because of the lack of information, especially about impacts of introduction.

Assessment Elements  History of Invasiveness: Uncertain  Climate Match: Low  Certainty of Assessment: Low  Overall Risk Assessment Category: Uncertain

9 References Note: The following references were accessed for this ERSS. References cited within quoted text but not accessed are included below in Section 10.

Coughran, J., S. Leckie, and D. Gartside. 2008. Distribution, habitat and conservation status of the freshwater , Cherax cuspidatus Riek and Cherax leckii Coughran (Decapoda: Parastacidae). Freshwater Crayfish 16:19-26.

Crandall, K. A. 2016. Cherax neopunctatus. World Register of Marine Species. Available: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=885562. (December 2017).

Crandall, K. A., and S. De Grave. 2017. An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list. Journal of Biology 37(5):615-653.

Fetzner, J. W. 2017. Cherax neopunctatus Riek, 1969. The Crayfish & Taxonomy Browser. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Available: http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/species.asp?g=Cherax&s=neopunctatus &ssp=. (December 2017).

FFWCC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). 2017. Prohibited species list. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida. Available: http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/regulations/prohibited/. (December 2017).

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GBIF Secretariat. 2017. Cherax neopunctatus Riek, 1969. Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Copenhagen. Available: https://www.gbif.org/species/4648600. (December 2017).

Sanders, S., C. Castiglione, and M. Hoff. 2014. Risk Assessment Mapping Program: RAMP. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. 2017. WAC 220-12-090 classification - nonnative aquatic animal species. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Olympia, Washington. Available: http://wdfw.wa.gov/ais/wac.html. (December 2017).

10 References Quoted But Not Accessed Note: The following references are cited within quoted text within this ERSS, but were not accessed for its preparation. They are included here to provide the reader with more information.

Austin, C. M. 1996. Systematics of the freshwater crayfish genus Cherax Erichson (Decapoda: Parastacidae) in south-western Australia: electrophoretic, morphological and habitat variation. Australian Journal of Zoology 44(3):223-258.

Merrick, J. R. 1993. Freshwater crayfishes of New South Wales. Linnean Society of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Riek, E. F. 1969. The Australian freshwater crayfish (Crustacea: Decapoda: Parastacidae) with descriptions of new species. Australian Journal of Zoology 17(5):855-918.

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