# Parastacidae > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Parastacidae > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Parastacidae.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parastacidae > Source revision: 1355116175 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Family of crustaceans}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Albian|recent|earliest=Aptian|[Albian](/source/Albian)–recent}} | image = Cherax pulcher 42998.jpg | image_caption = ''[Cherax pulcher](/source/Cherax_pulcher)'' | parent_authority = Huxley, 1879 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Parastacidae | authority = [Huxley](/source/Thomas_Henry_Huxley), 1879 {{cite book |title=The Crayfish: an Introduction to the Study of Zoology |url=https://archive.org/details/crayfishintroduc80huxl |year=1879 |author=T. H. Huxley |author-link=Thomas Henry Huxley |publisher=C. Kegan Paul & Co. |location=London}} | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = *†''[Aenigmastacus](/source/Aenigmastacus)'' *''[Astacoides](/source/Astacoides)'' *''[Astacopsis](/source/Astacopsis)'' *''[Cherax](/source/Cherax)'' *''[Engaeus](/source/Engaeus)'' *''[Engaewa](/source/Engaewa)'' *''[Euastacus](/source/Euastacus)'' *''[Geocharax](/source/Geocharax)'' *''[Gramastacus](/source/Gramastacus)'' *''[Ombrastacoides](/source/Ombrastacoides)'' *†''[Palaeoechinastacus](/source/Palaeoechinastacus)'' *''[Paranephrops](/source/Paranephrops)'' *''[Parastacus](/source/Parastacus)'' *''[Samastacus](/source/Samastacus)'' *''[Spinastacoides](/source/Spinastacoides)'' *''[Tenuibranchiurus](/source/Tenuibranchiurus)'' *''[Virilastacus](/source/Virilastacus)'' }} The '''Parastacidae''' are the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) of [freshwater](/source/freshwater) [crayfish](/source/crayfish) found in the [Southern Hemisphere](/source/Southern_Hemisphere). The family is a classic [Gondwana](/source/Gondwana)-distributed taxon, with [extant](/source/Extant_taxon) members in [South America](/source/South_America), [Madagascar](/source/Madagascar), [Australia](/source/Australia), [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand), and [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea), and [extinct](/source/extinct) [taxa](/source/taxon) also in [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica). ==Classification and phylogeny== Parastacidae belongs to the [superfamily](/source/superfamily_(biology)) '''Parastacoidea''', the [monotypic taxon](/source/monotypic_taxon) which contains all [crayfish](/source/crayfish) in the [Southern Hemisphere](/source/Southern_Hemisphere). Parastacoidea is the [sister taxon](/source/sister_taxon) to [Astacoidea](/source/Astacoidea), which contains all crayfish of the [Northern Hemisphere](/source/Northern_Hemisphere). Crayfish and [lobster](/source/lobster)s together comprise the [infraorder](/source/infraorder) [Astacidea](/source/Astacidea), as shown in the simplified [cladogram](/source/cladogram) below:{{cite journal |last1=Wolfe |first1=Joanna M. |last2=Breinholt |first2=Jesse W. |last3=Crandall |first3=Keith A. |last4=Lemmon |first4=Alan R. |last5=Lemmon |first5=Emily Moriarty |last6=Timm |first6=Laura E. |last7=Siddall |first7=Mark E. |last8=Bracken-Grissom |first8=Heather D. |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.0079 |title=A phylogenomic framework, evolutionary timeline and genomic resources for comparative studies of decapod crustaceans |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B | date=24 April 2019 |volume=286 |issue=1901 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2019.0079 |pmc=6501934 |pmid=31014217 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Crandall |first1=Keith A. |last2=De Grave |first2=Sammy |date=2017 |title=An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list |journal=[Journal of Crustacean Biology](/source/Journal_of_Crustacean_Biology) |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=615–653 |doi=10.1093/jcbiol/rux070 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal| author1=Heather D. Bracken-Grissom |author2=Shane T. Ahyong |author3=Richard D. Wilkinson |author4=Rodney M. Feldmann |author5=Carrie E. Schweitzer |author6=Jesse W. Breinholt |author7=Matthew Bendall |author8=Ferran Palero |author9=Tin-Yam Chan |author10=Darryl L. Felder |author11=Rafael Robles |author12=Ka-Hou Chu |author13=Ling-Ming Tsang |author14=Dohyup Kim |author15=Joel W. Martin |author16=Keith A. Crandall |title=The Emergence of Lobsters: Phylogenetic Relationships, Morphological Evolution and Divergence Time Comparisons of an Ancient Group (Decapoda: Achelata, Astacidea, Glypheidea, Polychelida) |journal=[Systematic Biology](/source/Systematic_Biology) |date=July 2014 |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=457–479 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syu008 |doi-access= |pmid=24562813 |hdl=10550/106842 |hdl-access=free }} {{clade |label1=[Astacidea](/source/Astacidea) |1={{clade |label1=clawed lobsters |1={{clade |label1=[Enoplometopoidea](/source/Enoplometopoidea) |1=[Enoplometopidae](/source/Enoplometopidae) |label2=[Nephropoidea](/source/Nephropoidea) |2=[Nephropidae](/source/Nephropidae) }} |label2=[crayfish](/source/crayfish) |2={{clade |label1='''Parastacoidea''' |1='''Parastacidae''' |label2=[Astacoidea](/source/Astacoidea) |2={{clade |1=[Cambaroididae](/source/Cambaroididae) |2={{clade |1=[Astacidae](/source/Astacidae) |2=[Cambaridae](/source/Cambaridae) }} }} }} }} }} ==Distribution== upright=1.4|thumb|left|The natural range of the family Parastacidae {{Cite web |author=J. W. Fetzner Jr |year=2005 |title=The crayfish and lobster taxonomy browser: a global taxonomic resource for freshwater crayfish and their closest relatives |access-date=27 March 2006 |url=http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225758/http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/ |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} Three genera are found in [Chile](/source/Chile), ''[Virilastacus](/source/Virilastacus)'', ''[Samastacus](/source/Samastacus)'' and ''[Parastacus](/source/Parastacus)'', the last of which also occurs [disjunctly](/source/Disjunct_distribution) in [southern Brazil](/source/southern_Brazil) and [Uruguay](/source/Uruguay). There are no crayfish native to continental Africa, but seven species on [Madagascar](/source/Madagascar), all of the genus ''[Astacoides](/source/Astacoides)''.{{cite journal |author1=Christopher B. Boyko |author2=Olga Ramilijaona Ravoahangimalala |author3=Désiré Randriamasimanana |author4=Tony Harilala Razafindrazaka |title=''Astacoides hobbsi'', a new crayfish (Crustacea: Decapoda: Parastacidae) from Madagascar |journal=[Zootaxa](/source/Zootaxa) |volume=1091 |pages=41–51 |url=http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/cfref/download.asp?file=Boyko_etal_2005_Zootaxa1091.pdf |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1091.1.3 |year=2005 |access-date=2012-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808171917/http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/cfref/download.asp?file=Boyko_etal_2005_Zootaxa1091.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-08 |url-status=dead }} [Australasia](/source/Australasia) is particularly rich in crayfish. The small genus ''[Paranephrops](/source/Paranephrops)'' is [endemic](/source/endemic_(ecology)) to [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand). The genera ''[Astacopsis](/source/Astacopsis)'' is endemic to [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania), while a further two are found on either side of the [Bass Strait](/source/Bass_Strait) – ''[Geocharax](/source/Geocharax)'' and ''[Engaeus](/source/Engaeus)''. The greatest diversity, however, is found on the Australian mainland. Three genera are endemic and have restricted distributions (''[Engaewa](/source/Engaewa)'', ''[Gramastacus](/source/Gramastacus)'' and ''[Tenuibranchiurus](/source/Tenuibranchiurus)''), while two are more widespread and contain more than one hundred species between them: ''[Euastacus](/source/Euastacus)'', around the Australian coast from [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne) to [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane), and ''[Cherax](/source/Cherax)'' across Australia and [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea). The Tasmanian genus ''Parastacoides'' was determined to be a synonym of ''Geocharax'', and is no longer valid.{{Cite web |title=World Register of Marine Species, genus ''Geocharax'' |url=http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=885849 |access-date=2021-10-25 }} However, the ''Parastacoides tasmanicus'' subspecies were not reassigned to ''[Geocharax](/source/Geocharax)'' but placed in two new genera, ''Spinastacoides'' and ''[Ombrastacoides](/source/Ombrastacoides).''{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Brita |last2=Richardson |first2=Alastair M. M. |date=2006-12-15 |title=A revision of the Tasmanian endemic freshwater crayfish genus Parastacoides (Crustacea : Decapoda : Parastacidae) |url=https://connectsci.au/is/article/20/6/713/67383/A-revision-of-the-Tasmanian-endemic-freshwater |journal=Invertebrate Systematics |language=en |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=713–769 |doi=10.1071/IS05035 |issn=1445-5226}} ==Fossil record== The oldest specimens from the family Parastacidae are the [Albian](/source/Albian) fossils of ''[Palaeoechinastacus](/source/Palaeoechinastacus)'' from [Victoria, Australia](/source/Victoria%2C_Australia).{{cite journal |author1=Anthony J. Martin |author2=Thomas H. Rich |author3=Gary C. B. Poore |author4=Mark B. Schultz |author5=Christopher M. Austin |author6=Lesley Kool |author7=Patricia Vickers-Rich |year=2008 |title=Fossil evidence in Australia for oldest known freshwater crayfish of Gondwana |journal=[Gondwana Research](/source/Gondwana_Research) |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=287–296 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2008.01.002 |url=http://www.envs.emory.edu/faculty/MARTIN/ResearchDocs/MartinEtal.2008.pdf |access-date=2012-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417021447/http://www.envs.emory.edu/faculty/MARTIN/ResearchDocs/MartinEtal.2008.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-17 |url-status=dead }} The only northern hemisphere representative is also a fossil, ''[Aenigmastacus crandalli](/source/Aenigmastacus)'' from [Canada](/source/Canada).{{cite journal |author=Rodney A. Feldmann, Carrie E. Schweitzer & John Leahy |year=2011 |title=New Eocene crayfish from the McAbee Beds in British Columbia: First record of Parastacoidea in the Northern Hemisphere |journal=[Journal of Crustacean Biology](/source/Journal_of_Crustacean_Biology) |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=320–331 |doi=10.1651/10-3399.1|doi-access=free }} ==References== {{Reflist|32em}} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}} {{Decapoda}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1190541}} {{Authority control}} Category:Parastacidae Category:Crayfish Category:Extant Albian first appearances Category:Taxa named by Thomas Henry Huxley Category:Decapod families --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Parastacidae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parastacidae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parastacidae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.