One of Aotearoa's two endemic freshwater crayfish - this one is most common on the North Island, and along the West Coast of South Island. Both Paranephrops are important resources to the indigenous Māori, and surprisingly given the troubles facing every second species I've covered lately, are not considered treatened.

Parastacid crayfish are found only in the Southern Hemisphere, with extant members in South America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, and extinct taxa in Antarctica - a classic Gondwanan distribution. They're most diverse in Australia.