The water quality requirements of white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes Lereboullet (1858) in Ireland

Abstract

Despite the decreasing water quality and the occurrence of the crayfish plague, the unique conditions present in Ireland offer a good opportunity to study aspects of the ecology of the white-clawed crayfish. Ireland is now perhaps the only European country to contain only a native European crayfish species. This situation allows study of the adaptability of this species in several types of habitat and determination of its requirements in terms of water quality.