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Crayfish Classifieds IT’S A SNIP! SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS D W Clark DRAINAGE LTD
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www.dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk Native white-tailed crayfish
Dr Mark Hampton of Peak Ecology, explains how the native crayfish population is being decimated by aliens, and how you can help
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that we find in our lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. There are over 600 species
C
rayfish, often described as freshwater lobsters, are one of the most amazing animals
found around the world, and more than half of these live in North America. Interestingly, there are no crayfish that naturally occur on mainland Africa.
reproduce rapidly and spread through rivers and canal networks. They can, and will, get out of a pond and walk short distances over land to get into a nearby stream.
The smallest species of crayfish is a mere three centimetres long and weighing just a few grams. Compare that to the largest from Tasmania, which can grow up to 80 centimetres long and weigh over 5Kg! Crayfish are generally nocturnal
and tend to hide under rocks, in crevices and tree roots during the day, coming out a night to feed on plants, small animals, carrion; in fact, crayfish will eat pretty much anything.
the white-clawed crayfish, which is a relatively small animal (maximum length of 12cm), compared to its American counterpart (the signal crayfish, which can grow up to 30cm). It was once widespread across the UK, but is now suffering severe decline, such that it may be completely eradicated from the UK.
The only native UK species is
Yorkshire where the American signal crayfish had been introduced to a small ornamental pond. They had been put in the pond to control excessive weed growth, but were so prolific that the pond became completely devoid of plants and all other life; in fact the crayfish were climbing out of the pond at night to graze on the grass of the adjacent fairway! Needless to say they are now well established in that river catchment. Once in a river system, the
I recall visiting a golf club in
crayfish will spread on their own but, in many cases, the spread around a river catchment and from one catchment to another is ‘helped’ by human activities. Apart from being introduced as
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world, are under threat and in decline. This has, historically, been caused by pollution and habitat loss but, over the last century a new threat has emerged: the introduction of non-native or alien crayfish, and this is now the key cause of the decline of native species.
problems in many countries, impacting, not just on the native species, but on wildlife in general, and also on physical structures, such as flood banks, that can be expensive to remedy. When alien crayfish are highly
invasive, it becomes almost impossible to stop them; they
Alien crayfish have caused Many native crayfish, around the
‘weed control agents’, anglers will sometimes use them as bait, and crayfish can be moved around with consignments of fish used for stocking new waterbodies. On top of this, crayfish are sold for the aquarist trade. But the primary reason for crayfish being spread around on a global scale, and often being introduced deliberately into ponds and rivers, is as a food source. People eat crayfish and, in some countries and cultures, they are an extremely popular food source. The red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, is probably the most widespread of all crayfish. Originating from south eastern and southern USA, it is now found in other parts of the USA, and has been introduced to, over thirty countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. North American crayfish often
carry a disease, a fungal type organism, most commonly referred to as crayfish plague. Under normal circumstances, the
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