Marmerkreeft

Last week, I mentioned that Marmorkrebs have been found in the Netherlands. This newsletter has more details (PDF format; I had problems getting it to open automatically, but was able to save it from my web browser). You may find it useful, particularly if your Dutch is better than mine.

According to Google Translate, the pictured page roughly means:

MARBLE LOBSTER-Procambrus SP.
English Marbled crayfish
Originally area not known
Natural habitat habitat unknown. The species is only known from the aquarium trade (where the species probably also created).
Dissemination in The Netherlands in 2004 for the first found in an old Griend in Dordrecht (the lay).

And they’re in the Netherlands, too

Received an email today pointing out a few references that show Marmorkrebs have been showing up in the waters of the Netherlands for some time now. The one below is a starting point:

Holdich DM, Pöckl M. 2007. Invasive crustaceans in European inland waters. In: Gherardi, F. (ed) Freshwater bioinvaders: profiles, distribution, and threats, pp. 29-75. Springer: The Netherlands. ISBN 978-1-4020-6028-1 (hardcover); ISBN 978-1-4020-6029-8 (ebook). Google Books

Pic of the moment: 16 June 2009

The annulus ventralis of Marmorkrebs. This feature is on the underside of the animal near the most posterior legs, and is sometimes found in crayfish species descriptions.

Marmorkrebs on the road: ESA 2009

There will be a Marmorkrebs poster in the late-breaking poster session of this year’s annual Ecological Society of American meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This will be presented by Stephanie A. Jimenez. This poster is her third presentation this year, all on different aspects of Marmorkrebs (she’s been busy!).

All late-breaking posters will be presented on Friday, 7 August 2009. Drop by and say hi!

Map of the world

View Marmorkrebs introductions in a larger map.

The main Marmorkrebs.org page lists an in-press paper describing a case of Marmorkrebs being found in a natural ecosystem. I’ve mentioned Madagascar before, and now Italy has been added to the list. The Italy article hasn't been posted in the blog yet, because I like to include articles here only once they have final pagination and so on.

It seems reasonable to expect more such reports in the future. I’ve created a Google map to start documenting where Marmorkrebs are reported. I will update it as often as I get information.