The redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus; hereafter redclaw), native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea, is among the largest freshwater decapods. It matures early and is considered highly prolific as females may lay over one thousand eggs in a single clutch. Despite generally preferring slow-moving streams in its native range, it has a wide environmental tolerance, making it capable of establishing populations when introduced to a wide range of other conditions and habitats. These biological and ecological features render it a highly suitable and popular species for aquaculture worldwide, being the second most important crayfish species economically (after the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii). Adding to that, its unique coloration fuels demand and value among aquarium enthusiasts, making it attractive for the aquarium pet trade. Today, redclaw is widely translocated (67 countries/territories) and various established wild populations (22 countries) have been reported on every continent except Antarctica. Information on its potential or observed impacts, however, is sparse and often anecdotal. To address this gap, this comprehensive review compiles all available information on this species, covering its taxonomy and description, biology and ecology, native and non-native ranges accompanied with documented introduction pathways. Built upon these, we conducted biological and socio-economic classification and species distribution modelling. We reveal a lack of thorough impact assessments for this species despite sufficient indications of major observable impacts at local scales. We call attention to the importance of managing the use of this prominent introduced species in aquaculture and aquarium pet trade.

中文翻译：

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红爪小龙虾：一种在热带和亚热带生物多样性热点地区具有入侵潜力的重要水产养殖物种

红爪小龙虾（Cherax quadricarinatus；以下简称红爪）原产于澳大利亚北部和新几内亚南部，是最大的淡水十足目动物之一。它成熟得早，被认为是高产的，因为雌性一次可以产下一千多个卵。尽管通常更喜欢在其原生范围内缓慢流动的溪流，但它具有广泛的环境耐受性，使其能够在引入广泛的其他条件和栖息地时建立种群。这些生物和生态特征使其成为世界范围内水产养殖非常适合和受欢迎的物种，是经济上第二重要的小龙虾物种（仅次于红沼泽小龙虾Procambarus clarkii）。除此之外，其独特的着色刺激了水族爱好者的需求和价值，使其对水族宠物贸易具有吸引力。今天，红掌被广泛迁移（67 个国家/地区），并且在除南极洲以外的每个大陆都报告了各种已建立的野生种群（22 个国家/地区）。然而，关于其潜在或观察到的影响的信息很少，而且常常是传闻。为了弥补这一差距，本综合审查汇编了有关该物种的所有可用信息，涵盖其分类学和描述、生物学和生态学、本地和非本地范围以及记录的引入途径。在此基础上，我们进行了生物和社会经济分类和物种分布建模。尽管有足够的迹象表明在当地范围内可观察到重大影响，但我们发现缺乏对该物种的彻底影响评估。我们提请注意在水产养殖和水族馆宠物贸易中管理这种主要引进物种的使用的重要性。