Cherax leckii n. sp. (Decapoda: Parastacidae): a new crayfish from coastal, northeastern New South Wales

Abstract

A new species of Cherax, C. leckii n. sp., is described from a remote highland site in Koreelah National Park, in the far upper reaches of the Clarence River drainage. The new species can be diagnosed by: a raised and sharp keel; the absence of rostral spines; a smooth cephalon with poorly developed ridge and spine features; calcified chelae with limited setation, and; the absence of a triangular keel plate posterior to the lateral processes of the fifth pair of pereiopods. Cherax leckii is morphologically closest to an inland species, C. destructor.