| Acocil | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Astacidea |
| Family: | Cambaridae |
| Genus: | Cambarellus |
| Species: | C. montezumae |
| Binomial name | |
| Cambarellus montezumae Saussure, 1857 |
|
Acocil is a species of crayfish native to Mexico, Cambarellus montezumae. The name acocil comes from the Nahuatl cuitzilli, meaning "crooked one of the water" or "squirms in the water".[1] It is a traditional foodstuff of the Pre-Columbian Mexicans, who boiled or baked the animal, and ate it in tacos.[2] It is found across a broad section of Mexico, "from Lake Japala in Jalisco to the crater lakes of Puebla", and so is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[3]