Key action species

This species has been identified in the Threatened Species Recovery Actions - 2025 Baseline, published by Natural England, as having key actions which can help recover populations or prevent further loss.

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White-clawed Crayfish

Austropotamobius pallipes

(Lereboullet, 1858)

National assessment

Unassessed

Local assessment

Data deficient

Statistics

Occurrences

720 since 2000 1,116 all time

Occupied 1 km squares

39 since 2000 45 all time

Earliest occurrence

1900

Latest occurrence

2024

Distribution

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Occurrence since 1950

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This chart should not be relied upon for an indication of species status as variations in recording effort can heavily affect the count of occurrences and occupied 1km squares.

Associated habitats

Chalk streams

Threatened species recovery actions

Actions from Threatened Species Recovery Actions 2025 Baseline published by Natural England.

Ex situ conservation

Expand the programmes of translocation of WCC to safe Ark sites to maintain the catchment genetic stocks with a future aim of re-establishing the GB population.

Scientific research

Research is urgently needed into novel diseases/symbiotic relationships and disease resistance in a changing climate, to determine cause of mass mortality of WCC in the North East, alongside genome sequencing to start the process of identifying a way to gene edit Signal crayfish as a control method, as there can?t be recovery of white-clawed crayfish unless INNS crayfish species are controlled.

Targeted monitoring

Monitoring is currently ad hoc and only covers small areas of WCC historic range. Improvement and expansion of monitoring can provide up to date distribution data of WCC & INNS crayfish to protect remaining populations and plan ark sites. This includes the need for a national online mapping portal to capture both the presence of ark sites, of native WCC watercourses, and of signal crayfish populations.

Untargeted habitat management

This species would benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages

References

Buglife. "Chalk rivers" (Accessed 07 October 2025) https://www.buglife.org.uk/resources/habitat-management/chalk-rivers/

Wilkins, T.C., Baker, T.G, Hipperson-Jervis, C. and Thompson, M. (2025). Threatened Species Recovery Actions 2025 Baseline Version 1.1 - Spreadsheet. Joint Publication JP065. Natural England and partners, UK. https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6106216194113536

Data sources

Local species recorders

Biological Records Centre. Crayfish (Crustacea; Astacura) data for Britain and Ireland to 2003. Licenced under CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

Environment Agency.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - Central, East, North Lincolnshire and Welland Sub-catchments 2005-2015 (INVERT). Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - Central, East, North Lincolnshire and Welland Sub-catchments 2016. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - Central, East, North Lincolnshire and Welland Sub-catchments 2017. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Environment Agency Rare and Protected Species Records. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Freshwater river macroinvertebrate surveys (Biosys). Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Cite this page

GLNP (2025). Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet, 1858) species profile, in Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership (ed.) Greater Lincolnshire species data bank. Available at: http://glincsson.glnp.org.uk/view?taxon_list_item_key=NBNORG0000023124 (Accessed 08 November 2025).