Noble crayfish
Astacus astacus
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Photo credit: RPS Group PLC
Astacus astacus - Noble crayfish
Habitat:
Description:
Origin and Distribution:
Impacts:
How could it get here?
You can help by reporting any sightings: @ the Centre for Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) - Or via the iRecord App.
Prevent Spread
Current Legislation Position (Northern Ireland only):
Astacus astacus - Noble crayfish
Habitat:
- Lives in range of freshwater habitats such as lakes and rivers
- Can survive in a wide range of temperatures
Description:
- Range in colour from brown to beige to red and rarely blue
- Ridges on the carapace with spines on the shoulder
- Can be differentiated from signal crayfish by its spine and lack of white patch on the claws.
- They can move up to 15m per day either upstream or downstream
- Females produce 60-100 eggs at one time, and can take 9 months to develop depending on the temperature
Origin and Distribution:
- Native to central and eastern Europe
- Was introduced in the 1980s to southwest England and has spread slowly with 3- 4 populations around the River Chew catchment
Impacts:
- Can impact macrophyte abundance and habitat structure
- Have a wide-ranging diet so can impact the entire food web
- Burrow into banks affecting structure and turbidity of water systems
- Potentially outcompetes the native crayfish where ranges overlap
- Not currently in Northern Ireland.
How could it get here?
- Was introduced to GB from Germany for the aquaculture industry so could spread into NI through trade or boat movement
You can help by reporting any sightings: @ the Centre for Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) - Or via the iRecord App.
Prevent Spread
- Do not release or move animals between waterbodies
- Check boats before moving them between waterbodies
- Report all sightings
- Great care must be taken to ensure individuals kept in confinement do not escape
Current Legislation Position (Northern Ireland only):
- Astacus astacus is listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and as such, under Article 15 it is an offence to release or allow this species to escape into the wild.