A Voyage into the Levant: the First Record of a Marbled Crayfish Procambarus Virginalis (lyko, 2017) Population in Israel

The marbled crayfish, Procambarus virginalis (Lyko, 2017) is a novel parthenogenetic freshwater species that has rapidly colonized diverse habitats in Europe and Madagascar. Here we describe the first wild population of marbled crayfish in the Middle East. Numerous specimens, including gravid females, were collected in the waters of a spring on Mt. Carmel, Israel. The results from phenotypic, morphometric and genetic analyses showed the close relationship with other known populations, consistent with the clonal structure of the global marbled crayfish population. Our findings represent a considerable expansion of the known distribution range and further illustrate the role of anthropogenic activities in the dispersal of marbled crayfish.