Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, crabfish, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mudbugs, baybugs or yabbies. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some species are found in brooks and streams, where fresh water is running, while others thrive in swamps, ditches, and paddy fields. Most crayfish cannot tolerate polluted water, although some species, such as Procambarus clarkii, are hardier. Crayfish feed on animals and plants, either living or decomposing, and detritus.
Cherax tenuimanus, known as the hairy marron or Margaret River marron, is one of two species of crayfish in Southwestern Australia known as marron. It occupies a narrow range within the southwestern biogeographical region of Margaret River. It is currently listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, because of the threat from the wider ranged smooth marron, Cherax cainii, which was introduced to its habitat.
Cherax, commonly known as yabby/yabbies in Australia, is the most widespread genus of fully aquatic crayfish in the Southern Hemisphere. Various species of cherax may be found in both still and flowing bodies of freshwater across most of Australia and New Guinea. Together with Euastacus, it is also the largest crayfish genus in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cherax quadricarinatus is an Australian freshwater crayfish.
The common yabby is an Australian freshwater crustacean in the Parastacidae family. It is listed as a vulnerable species of crayfish by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), though wild yabby populations remain strong, and have expanded into new habitats created by reservoirs and farm dams.
The moon wrasse also known as the crescent wrasse or lyretail wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is an inhabitant of coral reefs and surrounding areas at depths from 1 to 20 m. Moon wrasses are carnivorous and tend to prey on fish eggs and small sea-floor dwelling invertebrates. This species can reach 45 cm (18 in) in total length. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can also be found in the aquarium trade.
The Everglades crayfish, sometimes called the Florida crayfish, the blue crayfish, the electric blue crayfish, or the sapphire crayfish, is a species of freshwater crayfish endemic to Florida in the United States. Its natural range is the area east of St. Johns River and all of Florida from Levy County and Marion County southwards, as well as on some of the Florida Keys. It is included on the IUCN Red List as a species of Least Concern. The blue crayfish is frequently kept in freshwater aquaria. In the wild, this species varies from brown-tan to blue, but an aquarium strain has been selectively bred to achieve a brilliant cobalt blue color.
Pelvicachromis pulcher is a freshwater fish of the cichlid family, endemic to Nigeria and Cameroon. It is popular amongst aquarium hobbyists, and is most commonly sold under the name kribensis, although it has other common names, including various derivatives and color morphs of the kribensis: krib, common krib, red krib, super-red krib and rainbow krib, along with rainbow cichlid and purple cichlid.
Euastacus is a genus of freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, Cherax. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a family of freshwater crayfish restricted to the Southern Hemisphere.
Cherax quinquecarinatus is a small freshwater crayfish endemic to the south-west corner of Australia. It is one of two species known as gilgie, or jilgi, which is a seasonal food source for people of the region. Gilgies are found throughout a biogeographically isolated region of the coastal south of Western Australia and are significant in the ecology of aquatic systems of that bioregion.
Lake Kutubu is the second-largest lake in Papua New Guinea, after Lake Murray, and, at 800 m above sea level, the largest upland body of water, with an area of 49.24 km², and a total catchment area of 250 km². Lake Kutubu and Lake Sentani form an ecoregion on the WWF's Global 200. Kutubu lies in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, east of the Kikori River into which it drains, and about 50 km southwest of Mendi, the provincial capital. It is one of the few lakes in the country that occurs in a depression in the rugged interior mountains. The lake has a few islands, the largest of which is Wasemi in its northern part. The water of Lake Kutubu, fed by several streams originating mostly from underground sources, is clear and reaches a depth of 70 m (230 feet). The catchment is inhabited by two main ethnic groups, the Foe to the south and the Fasu to the north. Thirty-three villages lie in the catchment area, with a total estimated population of 10,885.
Boeseman's rainbowfish, also known as the Boesemani rainbowfish, is a species of fish in the family Melanotaeniidae.
Cherax nucifraga is a species of crayfish in the family Parastacidae. It is known only from the type locality – Palm Springs, near Channel Point, Northern Territory, Australia – where the holotype was collected from the stomach of a barramundi. It is listed as data deficient on the IUCN Red List.
The Ayamaru Lakes are a group of lakes found in the west-central part of the Bird's Head Peninsula in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. The lakes are named after the Ayamaru people that lived here for thousands of years. The nearest village to the group is Greemakolo. The many villages around the Ayamaru Lakes started the Ayamaru language.
Cherax holthuisi is a species of crayfish from the Bird's Head Peninsula in New Guinea. It grows to a total length of 81–93 mm (3.2–3.7 in) and is typically pink, orange or yellow in wild specimens. It was described in 2006 after animals circulating in the aquarium trade could not be assigned to any known species.
Cherax pulcher is a species of crayfish from West Papua in Indonesia. It is popular as a freshwater aquarium species across Asia, Europe, and North America.
Cherax snowden is a species of crayfish from West Papua in Indonesia. In the wild, they live in freshwater river tributaries. It is popular as a freshwater aquarium pet across Asia, Europe, and North America because of its orange-tipped claws. Specimens were previously misidentified as members of Cherax holthuisi, also from West Papua.
Cherax preissii, the common koonac, is a Western Australian freshwater crustacean in the Parastacidae family.
Cherax cainii, known as the smooth marron, is one of two species of crayfish that are endemic in Southwestern Australia known as marron. It occupies a range extending from around Hutt River in the north west to around Esperance in the south east of Western Australia. The species is also now found in variety of artificial and natural fresh water bodies of Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales in Australia. It has also been introduced to other countries including North America, Chile, South Africa, Zambia, Japan and New Zealand as a part of commercial aquaculture schemes.
