Sagmariasus

Model of Sagmariasus verreauxi

The species has many common names in English, including Australian crayfish, common crayfish, common Sydney crayfish, eastern crayfish, eastern rock lobster, green cray, green crayfish, green lobster, green rock lobster, marine crayfish, New South Wales spiny lobster, packhorse crayfish, packhorse lobster, sea crayfish, smooth-tailed crayfish and Sydney crayfish.[2] In Māori, it is called pawharu.[2] S. verreauxi was formerly included in the genus Jasus, but has been separated into a monotypic genus Sagmariasus due to the lack of sculpturation on the abdomen, which is found in all other Jasus species.[3] The name Sagmarasius derives from the Greek σαγμαριον (sagmarion), meaning packhorse, and the genus name Jasus, in reference to the common name "packhorse crayfish".[3]

During the early 20th Century, Sagmariasus verrauxi and Jasus edwardsii were one of the cheapest seafoods in New Zealand, with European New Zealanders preferring the taste of British crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes. Large hauls of Sagmariasus verrauxi were harvested in Northland, either sold cheaply or used as chickenfeed. Sagmariasus verrauxi was occasionally considered a pest that impacted fishing numbers, leading fishermen to occasionally destroy the crayfish. Populations of Sagmariasus verrauxi declined by the 1970s.[4]

• Booth, John (2011). Spiny lobsters : through the eyes of the giant packhorse. Wellington [N.Z.]: Victoria University Press. ISBN 9780864736550.