Population biology of red claw crayfish cherax quadricarinatus (von martens, 1868) (decapoda:parastacidae) in Sungai Macap, Johor, Malaysi

Abstract

Red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) originated from Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea and was brought in Malaysia for the aquarium industry in the 1990s. The objectives of this study are to determine the distribution and density of C. quadricarinatus at certain parts of Sungai Macap, to determine the morphological variations between male and female, and to examine the genetic variations between the population in Sungai Macap to other populations of C. quadricarinatus at selected hatcheries and pet shops. The field investigation to determine the distribution, density and morphological variations was carried out for 6 months from January to June 2011 and 3 sampling stations were chosen. For genetic variation study, besides the samples from Sungai Macap, other samples were taken from 2 hatcheries in Subang (Selangor) and Pantai Sepat (Kuantan) and also from a pet shop in Kuala Terengganu (Terengganu).