A prelimenary study on fecundity of fresh water crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) in Arass water reservior, I.R. Iran

A research study was conducted to investigate the number of ovarian eggs and estimate potential egg production of A. leptodactylus. In this study, mean number ovarian eggs 420.41±42.51 with the average total length to 121.93±4.27 mm (n=58). The mean pleopodal eggs were 322.04±29.61 with average total length of 119.14±3.94 mm (n=67). Comparison of the fecundity rate in different population of A. leptodactylus in different areas revealed that the Arass crayfish has a greater fecundity rate than others. The discrepancy between ovarian eggs and pleopodal eggs were 21% in Arass reservoir.