''Paranephrops planifrons'' or northern koura is a species of southern
crawfish
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 ...
in the family
Parastacidae
The Parastacidae are the family of freshwater crayfish found in the Southern Hemisphere. The family is a classic Gondwana-distributed taxon, with extant members in South America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, and extinct ta ...
. It is found in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
''P. planifrons'' is one of two indigenous species of freshwater crayfish found in New Zealand. They are more commonly found in the North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
and the West Coast of the South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
while the ''P. zealandicus'' is found in the east and south of the South Island. Both species of ''Paranephrops'' are important resources to the indigenous Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, particularly in the Te Arawa and Lake Taupō
Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...
regions.[
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's conservation status of ''P. planifrons'' is "LC", ]least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
, with no immediate threat to the species' survival.
Description
''Paranephrops planifrons'' is smaller than the southern kōura, '' Paranephrops zealandicus'', and has front claws that are less hairy.
References
Further reading
*
*
Parastacidae
Articles created by Qbugbot
Crustaceans described in 1842
Freshwater crustaceans of New Zealand
Endemic fauna of New Zealand
Taxa named by Adam White (zoologist)
Endemic crustaceans of New Zealand
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