Euastacus rieki
Keith A. CrandallTypes
Holotype, Australian Museum, Sydney P15299 (male); paratypes, Australian Museum, Sydney P34095 (8 male, 4 female).Distribution
The species is known from the high alpine and semi-alpine country of the Snowy Mountains, particularly around Mount Kosciusko, north to the Kiandra and Yarrangobilly regions, south-west of the Australian Capital Territory, a north-south distance of 100 km. Major drainage is via tributaries of the Snowy, Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers.Habitat
E. rieki was collected at altitudes above 560 m a.s.l., and usually above 1000 m (to 1520 m). From museum records, it is likely that the species extends into the highest areas of the Koscuisko region. Vegetation along the sampled creeks was dry sclerophyll (largely snow gums at high altitudes) with heath or tussock grass. Shade on the streams was moderate to poor and water was clear with very little algal growth. Stream beds were largely gravel with some loose rocks, bedrock in places. The species was collected from under rocks and from burrows in the stream beds. Most of the sampled streams are covered in snow or ice in the winter. Presumably the species is then dormant or semi-dormant in its burrows.References
Crandall, Keith A., James W. Fetzner, Jr., Carlos G. Jara, and Ludwig Buckup. 2000. On the Phylogenetic Positioning of the South American Freshwater Crayfish Genera (Decapoda: Parastacidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology, 20(3): 530-540.
Morgan, G. J. 1997. Freshwater Crayfish of the Genus Euastacus Clark (Decapoda: Parastacidae) from New South Wales, With a Key to all Species of the Genus. Records of the Australian Museum, supplement 23.
About This Page
Page constructed by Emily Browne.
Keith A. Crandall
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
Page copyright © 2001 Keith A. Crandall
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Citing this page:
Crandall, Keith A. 2001. Euastacus rieki http://tolweb.org/Euastacus_rieki/7932/2001.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
. Version 01 January 2001 (under construction).