Cherax warsamsonicus, a new species of crayfish from the Kepala Burung (Vogelkop) peninsula in West Papua, Indonesia (Crustacea, Decapoda, Parastacidae)

By

Lukhaup, Chris
Eprilurahman, Rury
Rintelen, Thomas von

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

660

Pages

151-167

Subjects

Cherax , Crustacea , Decapoda , Morphology , New Guinea , Parastacidae , pet trade , taxonomy , Warsamson River

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.660.11847

 

Abstract

A new species, Cherax warsamsonicus sp. n., endemic to the Warsamson River drainage, in the western part of the Kepala Burung (Vogelkop) peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia, is described, figured and compared with its closely related species, Cherax misolicus Holthuis, 1949. The new species may be easily distinguished from C. misolicus by the shape of the rostrum, absence of setae on the rostrum, the shape of the chelae, the presence of 3-4 cervical spines and by using sequence divergence, which is substantial for considering C. warsamsonicus sp. n. to be a new species. The new species is collected and exported for ornamental purposes and its commercial name in the pet trade is Cherax “irian jaya”, Cherax “pink coral”, or Cherax “hoa creek“. Due to similar colouration it is often confused with the recently described Cherax pulcher Lukhaup, 2015.