The first reports of wild caught Australian redclaw crayfish from Mexico, in the states of Morelos and Tamaulipas, are presented. Redclaw crayfish were first brought to Mexico in 1995 to initiate experimental cultures at several research centers. In the following years a number of private ventures started commercial cultures, several of which in the states of Morelos and Tamaulipas are thought to have been the sources for the wild populations recorded in this study. The farms that acted as the original sources have not been operating for at least 2 years. In Morelos, high densities and all size classes of redclaws, including ovigerous females, were captured in natural waterways; whereas in Tamaulipas they were found at four sites occurring in irrigation canals in an agricultural district. The size attained by the wild redclaws, the abiotic conditions in which they were found and the potential for spread within the drainage systems of the Balsas and Tamesi Rivers are discussed.
Resumen. El Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey es un área natural protegida federal que colinda con el área metropolitana de la ciudad de Monterrey. Por su ubicación tiene una serie de amenazas para la conservación de los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad que alberga. Los cuerpos de agua superficiales y subterráneos son los más afectados por factores antropogénicos. Además, la información sobre su biota acuática es muy limitada. En este estudio se registraron 18 especies de crustáceos acuáticos y terrestres, las cuales habitan en el parque nacional o en áreas adyacentes a éste. Cinco corresponden a los branquiópodos, 10 son peracáridos y 3 a los decápodos. Los peracáridos acuáticos Sphaerolana karenae Rodríguez-Almaraz y Bowman, 1995 y Spelaeomysis villalobosi García-Garza, Rodríguez-Almaraz y Bowman, 1996 y el acocil regio Procambarus regiomontanus (Villalobos, 1954) son formas endémicas. Seis especies no nativas residen dentro y fuera de los límites del parque, de las cuales 5 son isópodos terrestres y la restante es el acocil rojo Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852). Se discute la distribución y el estado de conservación de todas las especies de macrocrustáceos.
The red crayfish Procambarus clarkii, which is native to southcentral USA and northeastern Mexico, has been successfully introduced into several countries around the world. This study documents the geographic expansion of the exotic red crayfish in Mexico and discusses the consequence of a greater propagation of this species in Mexican inland waters. New state records of this crayfish in the Baja California peninsula and in the states of Durango and Sinaloa indicate its progressive dispersion. The propagation of P. clarkii in Mexico has been caused mainly by human introduction, but it is also facilitated because of the species' tolerance to an ample range of environmental conditions. Because of the invasive capability of P. clarkii, we suspect that this exotic species is competing for habitat and food with native freshwater shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium in many sites of northern Mexico.
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