worm on my crayfish

I caught a couple of crayfish a little over a week ago in hopes of putting them in my native tank, they wernt quite big enough to put them right in safely so i keep them in a side tank till they are bigger, as I was watching one dig around in the sand for a few minutes i noticed a really small worm around its eye, upon closer examination i noticed a couple more sticking out around its tail. they are a clearish white and very tiny, these are about 2-2.5" crayfish and the worms are hardly noticeable, they look like the head of a blackworm if that helps any, any idea what they could be?

That's a parasite; I can't remember the name just now. Most wild crayfish have them; they're harmless unless the crayfish gets stressed, in which case the worms could overwhelm him.

If you ever drop a crayfish in preservative, you will often see the worms fleeing through the eye openings and other areas around the carapace.

Branchiobdella worms