Crayfish is actually a smaller version of a lobster. It has the same conjoined like body structure and they both come from similar family genes. Their body structure is made up of one interconnected piece of head and midsection. Their eyes have the ability to wander around and see a large spectrum of vision. Their outside shell is a mix between yellow and brown with a hint of green at times. Their large anterior-most pairs of legs have powerful claws which are efficient tools for defense, food gathering, and object manipulation. Their four pairs of walking legs assist them in rapid locomotion across the bottom substrates of their aquatic habitats. Surprisingly, they are not really capable of swimming although they can use powerful thrusts of their tails to rapidly propel themselves (backwards) through the water. This latter movement is particularly effective when the crayfish is attempting to elude a predator.
| Name | Crayfish |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Astacus |
| Native | Marine ancestors dating back some 280 million years |
| Common/English Name | Crawfish, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs or yabbies |
| Name in Other Languages | Albanian: Karavidhe Afrikaans: Kreef Arabic: Jarad albahr (جراد البحر) Armenian: Khets’getin (խեցգետին) Azerbaijani: Xərçəng Bengali: Bāgadā ciṇṛi (বাগদা চিংড়ি) Basque: Zigala Belarusian: Račny rak (рачны рак) Bosnian: Rak Bulgarian: Pак Cebuano: Uwang Catalan: Cranc de riu Chichewa: Nsomba zazinkhanira Chinese: Xiǎo lóngxiā (小龙虾) Croatian: Rak Czech: Rak Danish: Krebs Dutch: Rivierkreeft Estonian: Jõevähk Esperanto: Kankro Finnish: Rapu Filipino: Ulang French: Ecrevisse Galician: Lagostim German: Flusskrebs Greek: Karavída (καραβίδα) Georgian: Crayfish Gujarati: Citraśalākā (ચિત્રશલાકા) Hausa: Crayfish Haitian: Creole kribich Hebrew: סַרטַן הַנַהֲרוֹת Hindi: Krefish (क्रेफ़िश) Hmong: Crayfish Hungarian: Folyami rák Icelandic: Crayfish Igbo: Isha Irish: Gliomach Italian: Gambero Indonesian: Udang karang Javanese: Crayfish Japanese: Zarigani (ザリガニ) Kannada: Krēphiṣ (ಕ್ರೇಫಿಷ್) Kazakh: Ozen şayanı (өзен шаяны) Khmer: Crayfish Korean: Wangsaeu (왕새우) Latvian: Vēzis Latin: Carabus Lithuanian: Vėžys Lao: Crayfish Malayalam: Sud’dhajala keāñc (ശുദ്ധജല കൊഞ്ച്) Malagasy: Orana Malay: Udang Maori: Kōura Marathi: Khēkaḍā (खेकडा) Mongolian: Khavch (хавч) Myanmar (Burmese): Ray hkyao kyawwat puhcwan (ရေချိုကျောက်ပုစွန်) Macedonian: Vid rak (вид рак) Maltese: Awwist Norwegian: Edelkreps Nepali: Krēphiśa (क्रेफिश) Persian: خرچنگ Polish: Rak Portuguese: Lagostim Romanian: Rac de râu Russian: Pак Serbian: Pак Sesotho: Tlhapi ea cray Somali: Carsaanyada Swahili: Kamba Slovak: Rak Slovenian: Raki Spanish: Cangrejo de río Swedish: Kräfta Sinhala: Pokirissā (පොකිරිස්සා) Tajik: Xarcang (харчанг) Tamil: Kaṭal naṇṭu (கடல் நண்டு) Telugu: Crayfish Thai: Kậng (กั้ง) Turkish: Kerevit Ukrainian: Richkovyy rak (річковий рак) Urdu: کریفش Uzbek: Qisqichbaqa Vietnamese: Con tôm Welsh: Cimwch yr afon Yiddish: Rak(ראַק) Yoruba: Ede Zulu: Isikhuphashe |
| Growing Locations | Rivers and brooks are the main living habitat for the crayfish |
| Crayfish shape & size | 3-4 inches (which is 7.62-10.16 cm) long. |
| Crayfish Color | Red, white, pink, and blue. You will also find them in dark brown and sandy yellow. |
| Major Nutrition | Vitamin B-12 (Cobalamine) 2.64 µg (110.00%) Copper, Cu 0.493 mg (54.78%) Selenium, Se 29.1 µg (52.91%) Tryptophan 0.207 g (47.05%) Isoleucine 0.72 g (43.06%) Lysine 1.295 g (38.73%) Threonine 0.601 g (34.15%) Valine 0.699 g (33.10%) Leucine 1.18 g (31.93%) Protein 14.89 g (29.78%) Phosphorus, P 205 mg (29.29%) Histidine 0.303 g (24.59%) Iron, Fe 0.94 mg (11.75%) Zinc, Zn 1.26 mg (11.45%) |
| Calories in 3 oz (85 gm) | 74 K cal |