Red swamp crayfish (Louisiana crawfish) – Procambarus clarkii

The red swamp crayfish is native to waterways running into the Gulf of Mexico, in the southern parts of North America and northern Mexico. It has been widely introduced in North, Central and South America, Africa and South-West and Central Asia. It was introduced to Spain in 1973 and subsequently spread rapidly in wetlands and rice cultivation areas, which greatly resembled its native range. It soon became a cultivated species in Spain and the commercial success of cultivation also resulted in unauthorised introductions to natural waters in Spain, France and Italy. The IUCN Red List website lists the red swamp crayfish as present in a total of 13 European countries in 2010. In addition to the aforementioned: in Portugal, Cyprus, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Croatia and Denmark. The red swamp crayfish is cultivated in large quantities in places such as China, Louisiana and Spain. Most of the pre-cooked and frozen crayfish sold in Finland are red swamp crayfish, mainly imported from China.