Abstract

Irish white-clawed crayfish are widespread and not currently threatened by alien species or widespread water pollution, allowing their ecological requirements to be investigated with some confidence. Crayfish occur in alkaline streams whose water quality is described as unpolluted or mildly polluted. Good stocks occur in some smaller lakes; they are restricted to stream-mouths in lakes larger than 12 km2. Lake crayfish graze the charophyte meadows, a priority habitat in European legislation. Heterozygosity levels within nine populations around Ireland were generally high, apart from two lake stocks which may have had small founding populations. Genetic differences between a reservoir stock and one in an influent stream suggest partial isolation between headwater stocks, a key to understanding crayfish population structuring.

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