''Gramastacus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

species from southeast

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It has two described species.

Discovery

Two species of ''Gramastacus'' were originally described in 1972 by

Edgar Riek Edgar Frederick Riek (1920–2016) was an Australian entomologist and invertebrate zoologist known for his research on fossil insects and the taxonomy of freshwater crayfish. He later became known as prominent viticulturist and winemaker. Affi ...

from the

Grampian region Grampian () was one of nine local government regions of Scotland. It was created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and took its name from the Grampian Mountains. The regional council was based in Aberdeen. The region was abol ...

of western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia: '' Gramastacus insolitus'' and ''Gramastacus gracilis''. In 1990, ''G. gracilis'' was determined to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''G. insolitus''. In 2014, a new species '' Gramastacus lacus'' from the coastal regions of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

was formally described by McCormack.

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20898371 Parastacidae Decapod genera Freshwater crustaceans of Australia