Gramastacus Explained

Gramastacus is a genus of freshwater crayfish species from southeast Australia. It has two described species.

Discovery

Two species of Gramastacus were originally described in 1972 by Edgar Riek from the Grampian region of western Victoria, Australia: Gramastacus insolitus and Gramastacus gracilis. In 1990, G. gracilis was determined to be a junior synonym of G. insolitus. In 2014, a new species Gramastacus lacus from the coastal regions of New South Wales was formally described by McCormack.^[1]

Species

• Western Swamp Crayfish - Gramastacus insolitus Riek, 1972 (western Victoria, Australia) - a very small non-burrowing crayfish that shares burrows with larger crayfish species
• Eastern Swamp Crayfish - Gramastacus lacus McCormack, 2014 (coastal regions of New South Wales, Australia) - a larger, more robust crayfish species that digs their own burrows

Notes and References

1. McCormack . Robert B. . The eastern swamp crayfish Gramastacus lacus sp. n. (Decapoda, Parastacidae) a new species of freshwater crayfish from coastal New South Wales, Australia . . 4 April 2014 . 398. 53–67 . 24715801 . Pensoft Publishers . 10.3897/zookeys.398.7544 . 3978226 . free .