[2] It is chiefly differentiated from the other species in the genus Cherax by the form of the rostrum, the shape of the claws and the small size of its eyes.

[2] In the wild, Cherax holthuisi has only been recorded from Aitinjo Lake (1°25′28″S 132°22′22″E / 1.42444°S 132.37278°E / -1.42444; 132.37278) on the Bird's Head Peninsula at the western end of New Guinea, in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

[1] Specimens of Cherax holthuisi were collected in 1952, when M. Boeseman bought nine individuals from locals on the shores of Lake Aitinjo.

[2] The species remained undescribed, however, until Christian Lukhaup and Reinhard Pekny attempted to identify some exotic crayfish then on the market in Germany.

[2] Lukhaup and Pekny therefore described the new species in a 2006 publication in Zoologische Mededelingen and called it Cherax holthuisi in honour of Lipke Holthuis.