First Report of Albinism in Turkish Crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Astacidae)

Abstract

A female albino crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) was captured from Atikhisar Reservoir in Çanakkale, Turkey on July 18, 2020. The albino crayfish is lacked melanin that is normally found on normal crayfish. The compound eyes of the albino crayfish were black as in normal crayfish. Morphometric characteristics were measured and the total length was 101.98 mm, carapace length was 50.04 mm, carapace width was 26.56 mm and weight was 35.90 g. Albinism is a widespread disorder in the animal kingdom and is triggered by the absence of melanin in the skin, eyes, or hair. Investigation on albinism has commonly focused on mice and humans. Therefore, there is restricted research on albino crayfish. In the present paper, the occurrence of albinism in crayfish is firstly reported from Atikhisar Reservoir in Çanakkale, Turkey. Therefore, this paper significantly contributes to the scientific literature by providing the first knowledge on the presence of albino crayfish in the Atikhisar Reservoir, Çanakkale, Turkey.