Parastacidae Huxley 1879

Parastacidae Huxley, 1879 Remarks. The family Parastacidae Huxley, 1879 contains ca. 200 valid crayfish species, all native to the Southern Hemisphere (Crandall & De Grave 2017). Australia is perceived as the main centre of diversity of parastacids with the island of New Guinea considered as an enigmatic hotspot with expected numerous formally undescribed species (Bláha et al. 2016; Yonvitner et al. 2020). All New Guinean crayfish belong to the genus Cherax and are usually classified as moderately burrowing animals even if there are exceptions, such as cave crayfish, Cherax acherontis (Patoka et al. 2017; Patoka 2020). Currently, 28 species of freshwater crayfish are known to be native to New Guinea (Patoka et al. 2023), most of which are narrow-range endemics (typically one known stream or lake).