Crayfish (White-clawed)

livelinkadmin — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:19:24 +0000

The White-clawed Crayfish is a crustacean and not a fish like its name suggests. It is also known as the European Freshwater Crayfish and can be found in freshwater rivers such as the 'Kent' and 'Eden' in Cumbria. It can also be found in shallow streams that have rocky surfaces and lots of plant life. as well as in lakes, canals, water-filled quarries and reservoirs.

The White-clawed Crayfish has a brown or olive-brown coloured shell and looks a bit similar to a lobster because it has two long arms with large pincers joined to them. The pincers are used to grab hold of prey. The underside and claws of this crayfish are an off-white colour and this is why it is called the ‘White-clawed Crayfish’. It also has four pairs of walking legs and lots of tiny legs on the underside which are called ‘swimmerets’. It has two pairs on antennae on the front of its head. One pair is very long and one pair is very short.

White-clawed Crayfish are very secretive creatures that like to hide in the day under large stones or amongst plant life. At night they emerge from their hiding places in search for food such as water worms, water insects, larvae, snails and small fish.

Shrimp (Fairy)

livelinkadmin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:26:30 +0000

The Fairy Shrimp is a freshwater crustacean that swims on its back and it can often be found in vernal pools. Vernal pools are temporary pools that are formed by rainwater and don't usually hold fish. These pools are often seen in autumn, winter and spring, but not in summer because they dry up.

The Fairy Shrimp is about two centimetres long and can be white, grey, orange-red, blue or green. It is translucent which means that light can pass through its body. It has a head that curves downwards and a tail that curves upwards. It also has a long body. It has eleven pairs of legs which are used for swimming. The Fairy Shrimp also has two black eyes on stalks and two pairs of antennae. It doesn’t have a shell that covers its body like other shrimps have.

The female Fairy Shrimp produces ‘summer eggs’ and ‘winter eggs’. The summer eggs are carried for a short while in a brood sac on the underside of her abdomen and the young develop inside the brood sac. The winter eggs are also carried in the brood sac, but they are released after a short while to sink to the bottom of the vernal pool. The winter eggs dry out with the vernal pool in the summer and the young hatch out about thirty days after the pool has filled with rainwater again.

Freshwater Crustaceans

Crayfish (White-clawed)

Shrimp (Fairy)