''Pontastacus'' 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 ...
of freshwater
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 ...
native to eastern Europe and western Asia, but also
introduced elsewhere.
Classification and phylogeny
''Pontastacus'' belongs to the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Astacidae
Astacidae is a family (biology), family of freshwater crayfish native to Europe, western Asia and western North America. The family is made up of four extant taxon, extant (living) genera: The genera ''Astacus'' (which includes the European crayf ...
, one of the three families of Northern Hemisphere freshwater crayfish within the superfamily (biology), superfamily Astacoidea. The internal phylogeny of Astacidae can be shown in the cladogram below:
Species
Nine species are recognized:
**''Pontastacus cubanicus''
(Birstein & Vinogradov, 1934) - Black Sea, Russia
**''Pontastacus danubialis''
Brodsky, 1981 - Danube Delta lakes, Ukraine
**''Pontastacus daucinus''
Brodsky, 1981 - Danube Delta lakes, Ukraine and Moldova
**''Pontastacus eichwaldi''
(Bott, 1950) - Caspian Sea
**''Pontastacus kessleri''
(Schimkewitsch, 1886) - Turkestan
**''Pontastacus leptodactylus''
(Eschscholtz, 1823) - around the Black Sea and other aquatic systems in eastern Europe and Turkey; widely introduced elsewhere - "Turkish crayfish"
**''Pontastacus pachypus''
(Rathke, 1837) - Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Sea of Azov - "Caspian crayfish"
**''Pontastacus pylzowi''
(Skorikov, 1907) - eastern part of Transcaucasia
**''Pontastacus salinus''
(von Nordmann, 1842) - Black Sea
References
Astacidae
Crustacean genera
Crustaceans of Europe
Crustaceans of Asia
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