Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, 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.
Cambaroides japonicus, also known as Japanese crayfish, is a species of crayfish endemic to Japan.
The signal crayfish is a North American species of crayfish. It was introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European Astacus astacus fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague, but the imports turned out to be a carrier of that disease. The signal crayfish is now considered an invasive species across Europe, Japan, and California, ousting native species there.
Astacus astacus, the European crayfish, noble crayfish, or broad-fingered crayfish, is the most common species of crayfish in Europe, and a traditional food source. Like other true crayfish, A. astacus is restricted to fresh water, living only in unpolluted streams, rivers, and lakes. It is found from France throughout Central Europe, to the Balkan Peninsula, and north as far as Scandinavia and Finland, and Eastern Europe. Males may grow up to 16 cm long, and females up to 12 cm.
The Parastacidae are the family of freshwater crayfish found in the Southern Hemisphere. The family is a classic Gondwana-distributed taxon, with extant members in South America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, and extinct taxa also in Antarctica.
Astacidae is a family of freshwater crayfish native to Europe and western North America. The family is made up of four extant (living) genera: The genera Astacus, Pontastacus, and Austropotamobius are all found throughout Europe and parts of western Asia, while Pacifastacus is found on the Pacific coast of the United States and British Columbia and includes the signal crayfish and the Shasta crayfish.
Pacifastacus fortis is an endangered crayfish species endemic to Shasta County, California, where it is found only in isolated spots on the Pit River and Fall River Mills. The exact subpopulations for the Shasta Crayfish were discovered in 2004 through a genetic study that determined three different genetic clusters: JeShe, Lava, and Spring Creeks, Thousand Springs, and Big Lake Springs.
Austropotamobius pallipes is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish.
Pacifastacus nigrescens, the sooty crayfish, is an extinct species of crayfish in the family Astacidae. It was originally described in 1857 by William Stimpson from the area around San Francisco, where it was once common in the creeks surrounding San Francisco Bay. The signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus was introduced to California, probably in the 19th century, and since then, no sightings of P. nigrescens have been made; it is now believed to be extinct. Intensive searches of its former habitat have found that every site where it once occurred is now occupied by either the signal crayfish or Procambarus clarkii.
Faxonius limosus, synonym Orconectes limosus, is a species of crayfish in the family Cambaridae. It is native to the east coast of North America, from Maine to the lower James River, Virginia, but has also been introduced to Europe. It is known commonly as the spinycheek crayfish.
Sagmariasus verreauxi is a species of spiny lobster that lives around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands the Chatham Islands and Australia from Queensland to Tasmania. It is probably the longest decapod crustacean in the world, alongside the American lobster Homarus americanus, growing to lengths of up to 60 centimetres (24 in).
Stephanie Peay is a British ecologist and crayfish researcher.
Aenigmastacus crandalli is a species of fossil freshwater crayfish. It was found in Eocene lake deposits in British Columbia, and was described in 2011. It is the first member of the Gondwana-distributed family Parastacidae to be found in the Northern Hemisphere, and is the only species in the genus Aenigmastacus. Twelve specimens are known, with a total body length of 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in). On some specimens, details of the internal anatomy can be seen due to the exceptional preservation.
Crayfish are eaten all over the world. Like other edible crustaceans, only a small portion of the body of a crayfish is edible. In most prepared dishes, such as soups, bisques and étouffées, only the tail portion is served. At crawfish boils or other meals where the entire body of the crayfish is presented, other portions, such as the claw meat, may be eaten.
The Mesa River is a river in the Sierra de Solorio range area, Iberian System, Spain. It is a tributary of the Piedra River.
The River Leck is a 7.5 mile 12.070 km long river in Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire; it is a small tributary of the River Great Ouse.
