The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

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IUCN 2008: T153709A4535070

Parastacus pugnax
Assessment by: Buckup, L.

View on www.iucnredlist.org

Citation: Buckup, L. 2010. Parastacus pugnax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010:
e.T153709A4535070. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en

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THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™

Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

Animalia Arthropoda Malacostraca Decapoda Parastacidae

Taxon Name: Parastacus pugnax (Poeppig, 1835)

Taxonomic Notes:
Originally described as Astacus pugnax by Poeppig (1835).

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Data Deficient ver 3.1

Year Published: 2010

Date Assessed: June 1, 2010

Justification:
Parastacus pugnax is listed as Data Deficient. This is a wide ranging species but is reportedly undergoing
declines because of land clearance. Further research is first needed on the scale of these declines before
a more accurate assessment of conservation status can be made.

Geographic Range
Range Description:
This species is endemic to Chile and ranges from Valparaíso southward to the Taitao Peninsula (L.
Buckup pers. comm. 2009). This species has an estimated extent of occurrence of 60,000 km2.

Country Occurrence:
Native: Chile (Valparaíso)

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 1
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en
Distribution Map

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 2
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en
Population
There is no population information available for this species.
Current Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)

This is a burrowing species, and like other members of its genus, it inhabits swampy ground (Rudolph
2002).

Systems: Freshwater

Use and Trade (see Appendix for additional information)

This species is collected for use as salmon bait (L. Buckup pers. comm. 2009).

Threats (see Appendix for additional information)

This species is facing population declines as a result of deforestation for agricultural land (livestock
grazing and crops) causing reductions in habitat quality through sedimentation. There are also some
localized populations that have been harvested at a subsistence level for human consumption and for
use as bait in salmon fishing. This species is easy to catch, and there are no guidelines stopping the
harvesting of juveniles or fertile females (Rudolph 2002). However the scale of these threats is not
certain. Further work is needed to determine if these are widespread declines.

Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)

There are no species-specific conservation measures in place for this species. However, protected areas
may need to be established to preserve some habitat for this species. Further research is on the scale of
threats.

Credits
Assessor(s): Buckup, L.

Reviewer(s): Collen, B. & Richman, N.

Contributor(s): Livingston, F., Livingston, F., Soulsby, A.-M., Batchelor, A., Dyer, E., Whitton, F.,
Milligan, H.T., Smith, J., Lutz, M.L., De Silva, R., McGuinness, S., Kasthala, G.,
Jopling, B., Sullivan, K. & Cryer, G.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 3
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en
Bibliography
Crandall, K. A., Fetzner Jr., J. W., Jara, C. G., and Buckup, L. 2000. On the Phylogenetic Positioning of the
South American Freshwater Crayfish Genera (Decapoda: Parastacidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology
20(3): 530-540.

Faxon, W. 1898. Observations on the Astacidae in the 776 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF WASHINGTON United States National Museum and in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, with
descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 20: 643–694.

Faxon, W. 1914. Notes on the crayfishes in the United States National Museum and the Museum of
Comparative Zoology, with descriptions of new species and subspecies, to which is appended a
catalogue of the known species and subspecies. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at
Harvard College 40: 351–427.

Felsenstein, J. 1981. Evolutionary trees from DNA sequences: a maximum likelihood approach. Journal
of Molecular Evolution 17: 368–376.

Fetzner, J.W. 2008. Crayfish Taxonomy Browser. Available at:

http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/infraorder.asp?io=Astacidea. (Accessed: June).

Hobbs, H.H.Jr. 1942. The Crayfishes of Florida. Biological Science Series 3(2): 1-179.

Hobbs, H.H. Jr. 1991. A new generic assignment for a South American crayfish (Decapoda, Parastacidae)
with revised diagnoses of the South American genera and comments on the parastacid mandible.
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 104(800-811).

Huxley, T.H. 1879. On the classification and the distribution of the crayfishes. Proceedings of the
Zoological Society of London 52: 752–788.

IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.3). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org.
(Accessed: 2 September 2010).

Kilian, E. 1959. La construcción de los tubos habitacionales del Parastacus nicoleti (Philippi, 1982).
Facultad de Estudios Generales, Universidad Austral de Chile 1(1-7).

Martinez, R. I., Llanos, F.E. and Quezada, A. 1994. Samastacus araucanius (Faxon, 1914): aspectos
morfológicos de un nuevo registro para Chile (Crustacea, Decapoda, Parastacidae). Gayana Zoología 58:
9-15.

Patagonia Times Staff. 2008. Chile Dam Project Will Scare Away Tourists. The Santiago Times.

Philippi, R.A. 1882. Zoología Chilena. Sobre los Astacus. Anales de la Universidad de Chile 61: 624?628.

Poeppig, E. 1835. Reise in Chile, Peru und auf dem Amazonenstrome während der Jahre
1827–1832.1:xviii 1.

Posada, D. and Crandall, K.A. 1998. Modeltest: Testing the model of DNA substitution. Bioinformatics
14(817–818).

Riek, E. 1971. The freshwater crayfishes of South America. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 84(16): 129-136.

Rudolph, E. 1997. Aspectos fisicoquímicos del hábitat y morfología de las galerías del camarón
excavador Parastacus nicoleti (Philippi, 1882) (Decapoda, Parastacidae) en el sur de Chile. Gayana
Zoología 61: 97–108.

Rudolph, E. and Almeida, A. 2000. On the sexuality of South American Parastacidae (Crustacea,

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Decapoda). Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 37: 249–257.

Rudolph, E. and Rojas, C. 2003. Embryonic and early postembryonic development of the burrowing
crayfish, Virilastacus araucanius (Faxon, 1914) (Decapoda, Parastacidae) under laboratory conditions.
Crustaceana 76: 835–850.

Rudolph, E. H. 2002. On the Biology of the Freshwater Crayfish Samastacus spinifrons (Philippi 1882)
(Decapoda, Parastacidae) SPINIFRONS (PHILIPPI 1882) (DECAPODA, PARASTACIDAE). Gayana 66(2):
147-159.

Rudolph, E.H. and Crandall, K. A. 2005. A new species of burrowing crayfish, Virilastacus rucapihuelensis
(Crustacea: Decapoda: Parastacidae), from southern Chile. Proceedings of the Biological Society of
Washington 118(4): 765-776.

Rudolph, E. R. and Crandall, K. A. 2007. A new species of burrowing crayfish Virilastacus Retamali
(Decapoda: Parastacidae) from the Southern Chile peatland. Journal of Crustacean Biology 27(3): 502-
512.

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Citation
Buckup, L. 2010. Parastacus pugnax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010:
e.T153709A4535070. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en

Disclaimer
To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.

External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 5
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en
 Appendix

Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.4. Wetlands (inland) - Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, - Suitable -
Fens, Peatlands

Use and Trade

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

End Use Local National International

Food - animal Yes No No

Threats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Threat Timing Scope Severity Impact Score

2. Agriculture & aquaculture -> 2.1. Annual & Ongoing Unknown Unknown Unknown
perennial non-timber crops -> 2.1.4. Scale
Unknown/Unrecorded
Stresses: 1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.1. Ecosystem conversion
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation

2. Agriculture & aquaculture -> 2.3. Livestock farming Ongoing Unknown Unknown Unknown
& ranching -> 2.3.4. Scale Unknown/Unrecorded
Stresses: 1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.1. Ecosystem conversion
1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation

5. Biological resource use -> 5.3. Logging & wood Ongoing Unknown Unknown Unknown
harvesting -> 5.3.5. Motivation
Unknown/Unrecorded
Stresses: 1. Ecosystem stresses -> 1.2. Ecosystem degradation

5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting Ongoing Unknown Unknown Unknown
aquatic resources -> 5.4.1. Intentional use:
(subsistence/small scale)
Stresses: 2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality

Conservation Actions Needed

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Conservation Actions Needed

1. Land/water protection -> 1.1. Site/area protection

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 6
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Research Needed
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Research Needed
1. Research -> 1.5. Threats

Additional Data Fields

Distribution
Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) (km²): 60000

Population
Population severely fragmented: No

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Parastacus pugnax – published in 2010. 7
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153709A4535070.en
The IUCN Red List Partnership

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN
Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation
International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas
A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™