Abstract
The marbled crayfish or Marmorkrebs, Procambarus fallax (Hagen, 1870) f.
virginalis, a parthenogenetic freshwater crayfish belonging to the
North American cambarids, was recorded in Hungary for the first time. Several specimens of
this potentially invasive crayfish were caught at different locations in the thermal Lake
Hévíz and its outflows in the western part of the country. Captured individuals covered a
wide size range (5.5 to 50.5 mm carapace length) and one was carrying eggs and recently
hatched offspring, which suggests that this organism has established a stable and
self-sustaining population in the warm habitats of Lake Hévíz area. This finding is of
great significance because these habitats belong to the catchment of the Danube River
including Lake Balaton, and thus, a significant further spread of the marbled crayfish is
likely to happen in Central Europe. Furthermore, the expansion of this crayfish already
reached the Kis-Balaton, one of the landscape protection areas of the Balaton Uplands
National Park, what could have currently yet unpredictable consequences for this unique
wetland biotope.
Citation
ID:
185983
Ref Key:
andor2016knowledgethe