Species of the week: the crayfish
My name is Zara and I’m an “astacologist”, which is a fancy way of saying that I study crayfish, lobster-like freshwater crustaceans of which there are more than 640 described species. In Australia, they go by the name of “yabby” (as in “Yabby Creek” – Home and Away fans will understand). In the American South, they’re called “crawfish” (Elvis Presley sang a rather catchy song about them in the film King Creole). In other parts of the world, they’re known as “crawdads” or “mudbugs”. Crayfish are a fantastically diverse group, ranging in size from the tiny (2.5 cm) swamp crayfish (Tenuibranchiurus glypticus) of Australia to the giant Tasmanian crayfish (Astacopsis gouldi), which grows to over 80 cm and can weigh a whopping 5 kilograms! Crayfish are also diverse in their choice of habitat, surviving in rivers, lakes and even caves. And they’re not fussy eaters either,…
