1. CRUSTACEANS name comes from hard, crusty body armor
most crustaceans live in ocean
some well known crustaceans are:
lobsters
crabs
shrimp
crayfish

2. Crayfish lakes and streams
Close cousins of lobsters, crabs, and shrimp
lobsters, crabs, and shrimp live in salt water
crayfish live in fresh water
lakes and streams
found on every continent except Africa and Antarctica
more than 230 species[kinds] live in USA
new species discovered every year

3. Crayfish Facts aren’t fish breathe with gills have 5 pairs of legs
gills take oxygen from water
crayfish can stay out of water as long as gills are wet
have 5 pairs of legs
4 pairs are for moving
1 pair form a set of pincers
pincers used to grab things, especially food
also used for digging

4. Crayfish Growth hard shell doesn’t grow
crayfish gets too big for shell
MOLTS - breaks out of old shell
skin hardens into new shell
molt many times as they grow
also REGENERATE body parts
can grow new legs, claws etc. if one is lost

5. Crayfish Eating Habits
hunt for food at night
will eat just about anything small
help clean up streams and lake beds
eat decaying plants and animals

6. Crayfish Sensing have eyes on stalks that can move all around
in front of eyes 2 sets of feelers/antennae
one set is long
one set is short
antennae covered with tiny hairs
tiny hairs help crayfish touch, taste, smell
opening where each short antenna joins head
openings lined with hair
hairs sense movement in water

7. Identifying Male and Female Crayfish
Males have larger pincers and narrower tails than females, but these characteristics are not absolute.
To tell for sure, you must pick them up and look underneath. Males have two pairs of modified swimmerets (the small leglike appendages under the tail) that are white-tipped and lay between the last pair of walking legs.
The females have longer, softer-looking swimmerets (for holding the eggs)

8. Identifying Male and Female Crayfish (ignore the orange arrows)
swimmerets

9. Crayfish Reproduction
reproduce with eggs
female lays eggs
crawls into a hiding place to protect eggs
eggs hatch
babies stay stuck to mother’s tail until ready to swim on own

10. Female Crayfish with eggs

11. Female Crayfish with eggs under tail

12. Crayfish young ones
First a crayfish starts out as an egg. Then it hatches and looks like a adult but it is smaller. Than it molts to a bigger crayfish. After that it gets to be a adult and if it is a female it will have babies.

13. Crayfish Protection
predators include: otters, raccoons, minks, fish, turtles, snakes, some birds, people
crayfish can hide under a rock or burrow
threaten enemies with claws
can swim backwards