North American crayfish in Dutch Friesland

This is a video of a white river crayfish in an aquarium.

Dutch invertebrate biologists EIS Kenniscentrum Insecten & andere ongewervelden report:

Monday, November 17th, 2014

Two independent catches of white river crayfish in Friesland in a month suggest that a new exotic crayfish species is now established in the province. This is the second exotic crayfish species in Friesland since the establishment of the American eastern crayfish, spotted in 1989.

Exotic crayfish have been omnipresent in Dutch surface waters for decades. Six species have established themselves, in particular the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and northern crayfish (Orconectes virilis) regularly make the news because of their high densities and massive migration movements across the country. Of most species, the focus of distribution in the western Netherlands, where the number of people seems a good measure for the number of (illegal) releases. It was to be expected that in the northern provinces, sooner or later new crayfish species would come, but that the white river crayfish is the next newcomer is still unexpected.

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