Crayfish - History And Habitat, Appearance, Breeding Habits
crabs freshwater fish live
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans of the order Decapoda, which includes crabs, shrimps, lobsters, and hermit crabs. Crayfish are nocturnally active, live in shallow freshwater habitats, and feed on aquatic plant and animal life, as well as dead organic matter. Their natural predators include fish, otters, turtles, and wading birds. Crayfish are particularly vulnerable to predation during their periodic molts, when their hard exoskeleton is shed to permit body growth. Aggressive behavior among crayfish often occurs over access to resources such as habitat, food, or mates. Crayfish are used by humans as live fish bait, and are also a popular culinary delicacy.
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Crayfish evolved from marine ancestors dating back some 280 million years. There are more than 300 species of crayfish worldwide, which are classified into three families: the Astacidae, the Cambridae (found only in the Northern Hemisphere), and the Parastacidae (indigenous
A crayfish at the Fish Point State Wildlife Area, Michigan. Photograph by Robert J. Huffman. Field Mark Publications. Re…
Crayfish are usually colored in earth tones of muted greens and browns. The body has three primary sections: the cephalothorax (the fused head and thorax), which is entirely encased by a single shell; the carapace, a sixsegmented abdomen; and a five-sectioned, fan-shaped tail, the telson. Five pairs of strong, jointed, armored legs (pereiopods) on the cephalothorax are used for walking and digging…
Crayfish usually mate in the fall. Females excrete pheromones which are detected by the antennules of males. The openings of the sex organs are located on the front end of the abdomen just below the thorax. In the male, the first two pairs of abdominal pleopods are used as organs of sperm transfer. Using his first set of pleopods, the male deposits sperm into a sac on the female's abdomen. …
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User Comments
over 3 years ago
Ya, im from south louisiana. put a crawfish trap in your ditch. once you got a bout 20 pounds of the little critters throw them in a pot and boil em! I wish I had ur problem!
10 months ago
cool
over 4 years ago
Do crayfish loose their shell at any given time???
over 4 years ago
I wonder if you can help me? I live in Ontairo Canada,and I have a unique problem,I have a small depression for drainage in my lawn and I have an infestion of CRAYFISH that pockmark my lawn all along the ditch.
Since you know about them and I know nothing about them ..... maybe you know how I can get rid of them.
I hope if you can't help you will know someone that can.
Thank you in advance
Ypurs truly,
Angus Hoecherl
2 months ago
Elee
Enijah has no school today.