Journal
ZOOSYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
Volume 99, Issue 1, Pages 93-100Publisher
PENSOFT PUBLISHERS
DOI: 10.3897/zse.99.98291
Keywords
Astacus astacus; Astacus colchicus; morphometric indices; Pontastacus leptodactylus; species identification
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This study provides detailed photographs and updated information on the morphology and morphometric analysis of the endangered thick-clawed crayfish. It identifies distinctive morphological characters that differentiate the species from other crayfish and contributes to its conservation and protection.
The thick-clawed crayfish Pontastacus pachypus (Rathke, 1837) is an endangered, and the least known, crayfish species in Europe. Currently, detailed information regarding the morphology, ecology and reproduction of thick-clawed crayfish is outdated. This study presents, for the first time, detailed photographs of the thick-clawed crayfish, and updated information on distinctive morphological characters and morphometric analysis. New specifications of the carapace and appendage morphological characteristics were estab-lished as: 1) the rostrum is long, sharply pointed and has three pairs of distinctive sub-apical lateral spines, 2) two well-developed pairs of post-orbital ridge on the carapace are ended by prominent spine; 3) each finger of chelae ends with a black sharp tip. Among the 18 morphometric indices, carapace width to the total length (CPW/TL), abdomen width to the total length (ABW/TL) and claw height to the claw width (CLH/CLW) clearly differentiate P. pachypus from the other representatives of Astacus genus (A. colchicus and A. astacus) and P. leptodactylus (P<0.05). Comparison of individual indices between P. pachypus and P. leptodactylus revealed that al-most all indices differed significantly except head length to the total length (HEL/TL) and rostrum length to the total length (ROL/TL). This study contributes to the identification of the thick-clawed crayfish for the purpose of conservation and protection of its localities.
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