Austropotamobius torrentium
| Austropotamobius torrentium | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Family: | Astacidae |
| Genus: | Austropotamobius |
| Species: | A. torrentium |
| Binomial name | |
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Austropotamobius torrentium (Schrank, 1803) |
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Austropotamobius torrentium, also called the stone crayfish, is a European species of freshwater crayfish in the family Astacidae. It is mostly found in tributaries of the Danube, having originated in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula.
A. torrentium grows to a length of around 10 centimetres (4 in), and has a smooth brown carapace, with an untoothed triangular rostrum; the underside is creamy white. Males have larger claws than females, but females have a noticeably larger abdomen. As in other crayfish, the first two pairs of pleopods are specialised for sperm transfer in males, while the female's pleopods are uniform, and used for brooding eggs.
The distribution of A. torrentium is centred on the Danube system, extending from the Olt River in Romania upstream to Germany and Switzerland and into parts of the Rhine and Elbe basins. It is widespread in southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. Contrary to some previous records, A. torrentium does not appear to occur in Luxembourg, Poland or Ukraine.
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Wikipedia