The status of the critically endangered freshwater crayfi sh Engaewa pseudoreducta (Crustacea: Parastacidae) in south-western Australia

Abstract

An update of taxonomic, distribution and conservation information for the freshwater crayfish Engaewa pseudoreducta Horwitz and Adams is presented. Engaewa pseudoreducta is formally listed as Critically Endangered by the state of Western Australia and under Australian national legislature, and informally in a recently completed international (IUCN Red List) global assessment of freshwater crayfi sh. Engaewa pseudoreducta was fi rst described on the basis of morphological characters of a small number of individuals from a single site, however the type locality was known to no longer support a population at the time of description and only one other nearby population was known prior to this study. This paper records two further populations and presents the fi rst genetic analysis of the species. DNA sequence data support the recognition of E. pseudoreducta as a species and despite the discovery of additional populations there appears no reason to lessen the conservation concern surrounding the species, particularly in light of continuing development in the area.