Signal crayfish
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| Signal crayfish | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852) |
The signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is an American crayfish indigenous to the western United States.[1] Members of this species are up to 15 cm in length.[2] They are bluish-brown to reddish-brown in color with robust large smooth claws. They have a white patch near the claw hinge.[2] Like all crayfish, they are solitary animals and are omnivorous, although their diet is mainly vegetarian they will eat anything from decaying roots and leaves to meat, including crayfish smaller than themselves.[3]
Due to the crayfish plague that ravaged European crayfish stocks and has almost exterminated the noble crayfish Astacus astacus, Swedish biologists searched for a crayfish that could replace the native European crayfish. They found the signal crayfish and started to introduce it into Swedish rivers and lakes. This was the beginning of the introduction of this crayfish not only to various European countries but also to Japan.
Unfortunately, this crayfish has been carelessly introduced to various countries without considering the fact that it carries the crayfish plague, and thus causes the eventual extermination of native crayfish. This was the case both in Great Britain and in Japan.
 A cooked Pacifastacus leniusculus |
 Signal crayfish, front view, from Grand Union Canal near River Nene |
 Signal crayfish, rear view |
[edit] External links
- Invasion of the Plague Carriers (RealVideo). The Vega Science Trust (2002).
[edit] References
- IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 14 October 2007.
