Beautiful Crayfish

I know most people don't find crays beautiful but when I saw this guy crawling across the bottom of a pool off of the Delaware River while I was netting minnows I knew I had to catch him. Orconectes virilis are one of my favorite species anyway and he's a perfect specimen of one. Photogenic he wasn't so these are the best shots I could get.

Your right, he's a dandy. Im also a member of a crayfish forum. Wish I could visit western PA, they have a lot of nice ones there.

crayfish of PA

New jersey crayfish list

I'd love to find one of these.
cray

Edited by exasperatus2002, 09 November 2010 - 09:48 AM.

That's a good looking crawdaddy!

Not to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if anybody knows if there is like a record size crayfish. I was collecting about a month ago and found some type of crayfish that was about 14-20inches long. It was honestly as big as some lobsters in the supermarkets. I was actually a little scared when I looked into the net...I wasn't expecting to see a huge crayfish.

That's a good looking crawdaddy!

Not to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if anybody knows if there is like a record size crayfish. I was collecting about a month ago and found some type of crayfish that was about 14-20inches long. It was honestly as big as some lobsters in the supermarkets. I was actually a little scared when I looked into the net...I wasn't expecting to see a huge crayfish.

Dang! Where did you see this? The biggest one I've ever seen was about 5 inches long and it gave me the shivers.

OP, that is an unreal crawdad.

Edited by GreenRiverKY, 09 November 2010 - 12:23 PM.

"Not to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if anybody knows if there is like a record size crayfish. I was collecting about a month ago and found some type of crayfish that was about 14-20inches long. It was honestly as big as some lobsters in the supermarkets. I was actually a little scared when I looked into the net...I wasn't expecting to see a huge crayfish."


Any pics?? Heres your states species list- My link

Edited by exasperatus2002, 09 November 2010 - 11:45 AM.

That's a good looking crawdaddy!

Not to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if anybody knows if there is like a record size crayfish. I was collecting about a month ago and found some type of crayfish that was about 14-20inches long. It was honestly as big as some lobsters in the supermarkets. I was actually a little scared when I looked into the net...I wasn't expecting to see a huge crayfish.

It's funny you say you're from KY. I read an article about some guys catching some huge crays in KY. Apparently they are native to one particular river in KY . I can't find the article right now but it's out on the web somewhere.

This is the biggest cray I've ever seen and either caught or gotten a picture of. She is a Procambarus acutus. I measured her and she is just short of 5 inches. I measured the crayfish I posted pictures of and he was about 3 1/4 inches long.

I put the water bottle in for scale



Her claws are big but not as big as the O.Virilis' claws

I did a little Google-ing and the big daddy that jblaylock is describing is the Bottlebrush Crayfish (Barbicambarus cornutus) found only in the Green River drainage. I grew up on the Green River and poked around in it nearly everyday for 15 years and never saw one or knew they existed.

I did a little Google-ing and the big daddy that jblaylock is describing is the Bottlebrush Crayfish (Barbicambarus cornutus) found only in the Green River drainage. I grew up on the Green River and poked around in it nearly everyday for 15 years and never saw one or knew they existed.

The Green River that's the place alright. The guys who caught some were tipped off by some local kids that there were "lobsters" in the water. They jumped up and down on a large flat slab of rock until a couple crawled out from underneath it. I'd love to see some one day.

My ultimate crayfish though is actually a freshwater lobster Euastacus armatus commonly known as the Murray Crayfish. They are native to Australia and are probably prohibited from being imported since they are from a temperate area and could thrive in a large part of the continental US.

Edited by davidjh2, 10 November 2010 - 10:17 AM.

The Green River that's the place alright. The guys who caught some were tipped off by some local kids that there were "lobsters" in the water. They jumped up and down on a large flat slab of rock until a couple crawled out from underneath it. I'd love to see some one day.

My ultimate crayfish though is actually a freshwater lobster Euastacus armatus commonly known as the Murray Crayfish. They are native to Australia and are probably prohibited from being imported since they are from a temperate area and could thrive in a large part of the continental US.

Serious spikage on that guy

Serious spikage on that guy

Now thats a crayfish! Now heres I'd hate to get pinched by Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (Astacopsis gouldi).

The Green River that's the place alright. The guys who caught some were tipped off by some local kids that there were "lobsters" in the water. They jumped up and down on a large flat slab of rock until a couple crawled out from underneath it. I'd love to see some one day.

My ultimate crayfish though is actually a freshwater lobster Euastacus armatus commonly known as the Murray Crayfish. They are native to Australia and are probably prohibited from being imported since they are from a temperate area and could thrive in a large part of the continental US.

There are many species of crays coming out of Australia. It is not so much that the U.S. prohibits these critters, as it is Australia who limits its exports to animals that are in no way threatened. The Murray Cray is a magnificant creature. Keep your eyes and ears open and sooner or later, someone will have some available.

Keep your eyes and ears open and sooner or later, someone will have some available.

Lord, I hope not. We certainly don't need loads of those running around our streams.

Magnificent, certainly. But I don't want to see it here. We can talk about responsible ownership all we want, but in the end, it only takes a few people to let them go. Not everyone is educated on the issue. And they won't be, no matter how much effort pet stores put into it.

Yeah I want one in the worst way but they actually prefer cooler water so we'd wind up with them everywhere in the north,northeast and northwest. Once they get past a certain size even bass wouldn't go after them. Plus they live almost as long as a saltwater lobster. That's a lot of breeding.

there are places to buy several other australian species neary the size of the murray crawfish. the marron is available and almost as big. I'm surprised they allow them to be imported into the us. crays live anywhere they want!

i found this out in my search for a colorful crayfish and i would up getting a rainbow tiger cray orig. from indonesia. i didn't realize just as colorful crays come from native waters of the u.s.as i would have gone w/ one of them instead.