Sagmariasus verreauxi is a species of spiny lobster that lives around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands the Chatham Islands and Australia from Queensland to Tasmania.
Names
The species has many
in English, including
Australian crayfish,
common crayfish,
common Sydney crayfish,
eastern crayfish,
eastern rock lobster,
green cray,
green crayfish,
green lobster,
green rock lobster,
marine crayfish,
New South Wales spiny lobster,
packhorse crayfish,
packhorse lobster,
sea crayfish,
smooth-tailed crayfish and
Sydney crayfish.
In Māori, it is called
pawharu.
was formerly included in the genus
Jasus, but has been separated into a
monotypic taxon Sagmariasus due to the lack of sculpturation on the abdomen, which is found in all other
Jasus species.
The name
Sagmarasius etymology from the
Greek language σαγμαριον (
sagmarion), meaning
packhorse, and the genus name
Jasus, in reference to the common name "packhorse crayfish".
Human context
During the early 20th Century,
Sagmariasus verrauxi and
Jasus edwardsii were one of the cheapest seafoods in New Zealand, with European New Zealanders preferring the taste of British crayfish,
Austropotamobius pallipes. Large hauls of
Sagmariasus verrauxi were harvested in
Northland Region, either sold cheaply or used as chickenfeed.
Sagmariasus verrauxi was occasionally considered a pest that impacted fishing numbers, leading fishermen to occasionally destroy the crayfish. Populations of
Sagmariasus verrauxi declined by the 1970s.
Further reading
