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Astacus
Astacus (from the Greek αστακός, astacós, meaning "lobster" or "crayfish") is a genus of crayfish found in Europe, comprising three extant (living) species and three somewhat contested extinct species. These crayfish are found across Europe and live exclusively in freshwater, mostly inhabiting the bottom of lakes, ponds, and streams.
Due to the crayfish plague, crayfish of this genus have declined in many European regions, being replaced by the invasive North American signal crayfish, which carries the plague but is unaffected by it.
3 branches of this genus, most-observed first
European Crayfish
speciesAstacus astacus
Astacus balcanicus
speciesAstacus balcanicus
Colchic Crayfish
speciesAstacus colchicus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Astacus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 84863.