Astacus (from the Greek αστακός, astacós, meaning "lobster" or "crayfish")[1] is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three extant (living) species and three extinct fossil species.[2]
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]
Astacus belongs to the family Astacidae, one of the three families of Northern Hemisphere freshwater crayfish within the superfamily Astacoidea. The internal phylogeny of Astacidae can be shown in the cladogram below:[2]
AstacidaeAstacus
Astacus (from the Greek αστακός, astacós, meaning "lobster" or "crayfish") is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three extant (living) species and three extinct fossil species.
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.
