Publication Date:
2024-01-12
Description:
The freshwater crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium collected in the Netherlands in 1956\n(Crustacea: Decapoda: Astacidae)\nOn 10 November 1956 a freshwater crayfish was collected in a fish trap in the canal that\nsurrounds the polder Haarlemmermeer between Haarlem and Amsterdam about 2 to 3 km from\nthe village Halfweg. The specimen is a fully grown male of 106 mm in total length; the left first\ncheliped is missing and the right first cheliped evidently has been lost previously, as a small\nregenerated cheliped (total length of cheliped 40 mm, length of chela 16 mm) is present.\nAt that time Astacus astacus was the only freshwater crayfish in the Netherlands and the specimen\nwas (incorrectly) identified as that species. As such it was also reported in Geelen\xe2\x80\x99s (1978)\ndiscussion of the then known occurrence of freshwater crayfish in the Netherlands. The locality\nof the specimen was far outside the known Dutch region of occurrence of A. astacus. A recent\nre-examination of the specimen showed it not to be Astacus astacus, but Austropotamobius\ntorrentium, which made the mystery of its locality only greater. Austropotamobius species have\nnever been found in or near the Netherlands. Moreover, the habitat in which our specimen was\nfound is so completely different from that in which that species usually lives, that its occurrence\nnear Halfweg can only be artificial. How the specimen arrived there will always remain a puzzle.\nAs the species is not a common aquarium animal, the aquarium trade is not likely to be the\nculprit.
Keywords:
rivierkreeften
;
Astacidae
;
Nederland
;
verspreiding
Repository Name:
National Museum of Natural History, Netherlands
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Format:
application/pdf
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