Cherax preissii
Species of crayfish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cherax preissii, the common koonac, is a Western Australian freshwater crustacean in the Parastacidae family.
| Cherax preissii | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Family: | Parastacidae |
| Genus: | Cherax |
| Species: | C. preissii |
| Binomial name | |
| Cherax preissii Erichson, 1846 | |
Its common name of "koonac" is also applied to another Western Australian Cherax species of crustacean C. glaber, the "glossy koonac", which is restricted to a much smaller region of WA.[2][3]
Koonacs can grow up to 20 cm and may be coloured black and red, dark brown, or bluish black. They have broad, serrated claws and four keels on the head, two of which are prominent.[4][5]
Ecology
Koonacs are endemic to the southwest of Western Australia, in wetlands, permanent and seasonal waterways, and farm dams. They are able to survive seasonal dryness for several months by digging burrows.[6]
Although they are rated as "least concern" on the IUCN redlist, local populations may be under threat by introduced eastern states yabbies such as Cherax destructor and Cherax albidus through competition for food and habitat.[1][7]