Three new species of Australian crayfish found

THREE NEW SPECIES of crayfish have been discovered in Victorian and New South Wales wetlands by Australian researchers and volunteers from the Australian Crayfish Project.
Australia hosts one of the world's most diverse crayfish fauna, yet it remains poorly studied, explains Dr Robert McCormack, lead researcher.
"The project is discovering dozens of new species or new populations that were never known to exist. Our aim is to find and identify all species of freshwater crayfish and their habitat," says Robert.A new species, the eastern swamp crayfish (Gramastacus lacus), is the world's smallest crayfish. (Credit: Rob McCormack)

World's smallest crayfish

One of these new species, named Gramastacus lacus, holds the title of being one of the world's smallest crayfish. It is found in scattered populations across the coastal lakes and swampy areas of New South Wales. These critters are prolific and live in burrows up to a meter deep, which they use to avoid drought. Research about this new species was published earlier this year in ZooKeys.
The second species, currently being described by Rob McCormack and Jim Fetzner from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, in the USA, will be a new member of the genus Euastacus and it is known from a single river in eastern Victoria.
The new species, Dr McCormack says, "occurs in mainly permanent, small-to-medium-READ MORE-http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/09/three-new-species-of-australian-crayfish-found