''Virilastacus'' 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
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 ...
burrowing
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
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
. It has four described species. The first species was described in 1914, but since 2005, three other species have been added to this genus.
Species
*''
Virilastacus araucanius''
Faxon, 1914
*''
Virilastacus jarai''
Erich H. Rudolph and Keith A. Crandall, 2012
*''
Virilastacus retamali''
Erich H. Rudolph and Keith A. Crandall, 2007
*''
Virilastacus rucapihuelensis''
Rudolph and Crandall, 2005
References
Parastacidae
Freshwater crustaceans of South America
Endemic fauna of Chile
Edible crustaceans
Decapod genera
Taxa named by Horton H. Hobbs Jr.
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