There's a monster in our dam!

[H. laoticus]

Nice! Aus has the biggest species in the world, over 2ft! Makes me want to go crawdad hunting in e tx. Tiny here compared to that thing though.

wow, crayfish boiling pot anyone? hehe :drool:

 

[H. laoticus]

Make sure to have good water circulation when you do. I had 4 adults (they were red though) and the tank stank even though the uneaten food was removed.

yeah, get yourself a good filter.

 

[Cricketsong]

Yabbies (Cherax destructor) don't grow to 2 feet...not even in an Australian child's dreams... They do build their tunnel entrances up at times, as Dragonblade has observed. I don't know why they do this, but perhaps it has something to do with weather...like if rain was coming, maybe it would protect the entrance from caving in.

The ones with red claws are the same species, but usually come from the Queensland area. In the rest of the country, the claws are usually blue or greenish. Australian kids used to spend days catching yabbies, but these days they tend to go after mythical creatures on a computer screen...

Here's a link for anybody who wants to know more about them:

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/recreational_fishing/target_species/yabbie

 

[Galapoheros]

that thing measures about 5 inhes in lengh, so its a tad bit under the 2ft claim there

Can't really tell the size of that one or what species it is, but the species I was referring to is Astacopsis gouldi. It'd be awesome to get a farm going with these, it'd be an expensive dish since it takes so long lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_giant_freshwater_crayfish
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Astacopsis gouldi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[H. laoticus]

Can't really tell the size of that one or what species it is, but the species I was referring to is Astacopsis gouldi. It'd be awesome to get a farm going with these, it'd be an expensive dish since it takes so long lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_giant_freshwater_crayfish
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Astacopsis gouldi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

wow, sweet...meat that is
That yabbie in the link above looks awesome
I can only catch the red ones where I live
here's a pic: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hk6GZ5Swv...s+Lobster+Ku+-+Procambarus+Clarkii+Red+01.jpg

 

[Galapoheros]

I'm familiar with the behavior of these things(in the US) building up "towers". Sometimes they leave the top open, sometimes they dome it and cut off access to the outside. My thought is that they have to move the load somewhere so they may use it that way and decide to cut off the entrance according to what the water table level might be in their habitat which is floodplain areas, in order to preserve humidity down there. lol, sweet meat, I bet those things are tasty:drool: Those with the black and red dotted pinchers live a diff lifestyle, more out in the open under water and not digging so much and living in a hole. That one looks a lot like one we have here in central tx, don't know what that is though.

Yabbies (Cherax destructor) don't grow to 2 feet...not even in an Australian child's dreams... They do build their tunnel entrances up at times, as Dragonblade has observed. I don't know why they do this, but perhaps it has something to do with weather...like if rain was coming, maybe it would protect the entrance from caving in.

The ones with red claws are the same species, but usually come from the Queensland area. In the rest of the country, the claws are usually blue or greenish. Australian kids used to spend days catching yabbies, but these days they tend to go after mythical creatures on a computer screen...

Here's a link for anybody who wants to know more about them:

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/recreational_fishing/target_species/yabbie

 

[Cricketsong]

wow, sweet...meat that is
That yabbie in the link above looks awesome
I can only catch the red ones where I live

Ah...the giant Tasmanian yabbie...not many people would have seen one of those, they are fairly close to extinct. Catching them is illegal, I think the penalty is something like hanging, drawing and quartering. I understand they are very good to eat, which explains their current status as endangered animals.

Certainly an impressive creature, I hope I get to see one some day. There is also the marron, from West Australia (Cherax Tenuimanus)...now becoming more common in the eastern states, because of escapes from marron farms. Marrons are bigger than yabbies, but nowhere near as big as the Tasmanian giant.

Then there's the Murray River crayfish (Euastacus armatus)...more heavily armoured than the yabbie and with beautiful white claws. This one is also in trouble because of over-fishing by humans, and can't be legally captured. I'd hate to see any of them disappear from the wild. The ones I've seen, that is, yabbies, marron and Murray River crays, are beautiful to watch in their natural environment. They can live in a tank, but you'd need a good filter and frequent water changes, they cloud the water up quickly. We used to keep them in the bath tub when we were kids, but never for long, our mother had a very limited tolerance for creatures in the bath.

 

[TheTyro]

Ahh, cool! I think i'd try catching it if I were you. Though the last time I caught a crayfish, in my excitement I ended up stepping on a very long nail in a field while trotting back to my friends house with it in my hand. Pierced my shoe. The one I caught was blue, and that was the only one I ever saw. It was small though, and since I was about 10 years old at the time I thought it was a small lobster.

 

[Galapoheros]

Ah...the giant Tasmanian yabbie...not many people would have seen one of those, they are fairly close to extinct. Catching them is illegal, I think the penalty is something like hanging, drawing and quartering. I understand they are very good to eat, which explains their current status as endangered animals.

Certainly an impressive creature, I hope I get to see one some day. There is also the marron, from West Australia (Cherax Tenuimanus)...now becoming more common in the eastern states, because of escapes from marron farms. Marrons are bigger than yabbies, but nowhere near as big as the Tasmanian giant.

Then there's the Murray River crayfish (Euastacus armatus)...more heavily armoured than the yabbie and with beautiful white claws. This one is also in trouble because of over-fishing by humans, and can't be legally captured. I'd hate to see any of them disappear from the wild. The ones I've seen, that is, yabbies, marron and Murray River crays, are beautiful to watch in their natural environment. They can live in a tank, but you'd need a good filter and frequent water changes, they cloud the water up quickly. We used to keep them in the bath tub when we were kids, but never for long, our mother had a very limited tolerance for creatures in the bath.

There seems to be no fine line between "yabbie", "crayfish" and "crawdad". What is the difference there in Australia, if any... and if so, is the difference you state only the difference noticed in your locality? Or is it a "slang" name given to a particular species? Did you just now in the last couple of days become familiar with Astacopsis gouldi?

 

[SixShot666]

Haha....Nice video!!! :clap::clap::clap:
I thought it was going to be a hoax or something like that.