New Findings of White Clawed Crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes (Decapoda, Astacidae), and Peculiarities of its Spatial Distribution in Neretvica (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Abstract
At the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, A. pallipes is present mainly in the Neretva basin, partly in Una and Tsetina river basins (Trožić-Borovac et al., 2012). This species was registered at elevations from 180 to 1024 m asl, but most habitats are located at elevations from 300 to 600 m asl. Based on indirect data, one can state that more than 2/3 of the crayfish population in the Neretva basin is concentrated in the Neretvica basin. Our studies showed that the crayfish are very irregularly distributed in the Neretvica basin. The crayfish are almost absent at well-flushed habitats without CPOM (deposits of coarse particulate organic matter, e.g., fallen leaves), as well as at habitats with monotonous boulders or gravel-sand bottom. The study of the size structure of the crayfish population showed the presence of juvenile crayfish with a size of less than 5 cm in the Neretvica river course. The most balanced structure of the crayfish population represented by juvenile as well as adult species is observed in Gorovnik.
References
Afanasyev, S. A. 2002. Development of European Approaches to Biological Assessment of the State of Hydroecosystems and Their Application to the Monitoring of Ukrainian Rivers. Hydrobiological Journal, 38 (4), 130-148.
Demers, A., Reynolds, J. D., Cioni, A. 2003. Habitat preference of different size classes of austropotamobius pallipes in an Irish River. Bull. Fr. Pкche Piscic. 370-371: 127-137.
Englund, G., 1999. Effects of fish on the local abundance of crayfish in stream pools. Oikos, 87, 48-56.
Englund, G., Krupa, J. J. 2000. Habitat use by crayfish in stream pools: influence of predators, depth and body size. Freshwater Biology, 43, 75-83.
Entz, G. 1914. Über die Flusskrebse Ungarns. Mathematische und Naturwissenschaft liche Berichte aus. Ungarn, 30, 67-127.
Karaman, S. 1929. Die Potamobiiden Jugoslaviens. Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini, 41, 147−150.
Karaman, M. S. 1963. Studie der Astacidae (Crustacea, Decapoda) II. Teil. Hydrobiologia, 22, 111−132.
Lodge, D. M., Hill, A. 1994. Factors governing species composition, population size, and productivity of cool-water crayfishes. Nordic Journal of Freshwater Resources, 69, 111-136.
Maguire, I. 2002. Porodica Astacidae Latreille, 1802 u sjeverozapadnoj Hrvatskoj. Doktorska disertacija. Sveučilište u Zagrebu. Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet, Zagreb.
Maguire, I., Gottstein-Matočec EC, S. 2004: The Distribution pattern of freshwater crayfish in Croatia. Crustaceana, 77 (1), 25-27.
Momot, W. T. 1993. The role of exploitation in altering the processes regulating crayfish populations. Freshwater Crayfish, 9, 101-117.
Rumyantsev, V. D. 1970. Marking of crayfish - Astacus leptodactylus Eschholz. Hydrobiological Journal, 6, 117-118 [In Russian].
Šanda, R., Petrusek, A. 2009. Distribution and diversity of crayfishes in the Adriatic drainage of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In: Kozák, P., Kouba, A., eds. Abstract Book, Future of Native Crayfishin Europe, Regional European Crayfish Workshop, 7th-10th September 2009, Písek, Czech Republic, 50.
Souty-Grosset, C., Holdich, D. M., Noël, P. Y., Reynolds, J. D., Haffner, P. 2006. Atlas of Crayfish in Europe. Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d'Historie naturelle, Paris, 1-187.
Stein, R. A., 1977. Selective predation, optimal foraging, and the predator-prey interaction between fish and crayfish. Ecology, 58, 1237-1253.
Trožić-Borovac, S. 2011. Freshwater crayfish in Bosnia and Herzegovina: the first report on their distribution. Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 401, 26.
Trožić-Borovac, S., Macanović, A., Škrijelj, R. 2012. The morfometrics characterics and condition index of Austropotamobius pallipes in the Neretva river basin. Works of the Faculty of Forestry University of Sarajevo, 6 (1), 13-30.
