Orconectes limosus; spiny-cheek crayfish; invasive species; distribution; crayfish plague; Czech Republic

The American spiny-cheek crayfish, Orconectes limosus, was first introduced into European waters in 1890. The presence of this species in Czechia, was first recorded in the 1960s near the river Elbe (Labe) in Central Bohemia and confirmed in 1980s. In the last decades it has spread into several larger rivers of the Elbe watershed and some of their smaller tributaries. O. limosus can be found in lower reaches of a number of watercourses of a low stream order, but does not seem to penetrate far upstream in such localities. Its distribution in standing waters is largely the result of intentional human-mediated translocations.