Howdy!

 

 I am in the Waco area and have always been very interested in the native fish of Texas. I am a fisherman and I spend a lot of time around the lakes and rivers fishing for both fish and "Magnet fishing"... which is what leads me here today.

 

If you are not aware of what "Magnet Fishing" is, basically, you take a powerful magnet, tie it to a rope, throw it in the water, and see what you can recover. Normally, I am hoping to find lost knives and tools to restore and use, but I also use it as an opportunity to clean-up the scrap metal from waters where I ply this activity - one of my many hobbies. I also pick up and properly dispose of any trash I find in and around the locations I visit. It is my little way to keep our valuable resources clean.

 

Today, along with other junk, I recovered a jackstand from the Bosque River in Waco and when I got it home, along with the mud from the jackstand, a little crab scuttled out of the mud and muck. I put it in a jar using water from my freshwater aquarium and called the Inland Fisheries of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. After texting some photos of this little guy, I started some research and that led me here. I have seen thousands of crabs while fishing on the Texas Gulf Coast over the last 30+ years, but I have never ran-across a Freshwater Crab before.

 

So here I am - thanks for allowing me in!

 

Peace - Patrick ><>

Welcome aboard! Neat catch, and I must say you have opened a new fishing door to us. As far as I know you are our magnet fishing pioneer! Thanks for checking with the TX authorities regarding your crab before posting it here. Sure is neat, I don't know of any other freshwater crabs.

Cool!  Coastal streams often contain interesting creatures of marine origin.  Did the TX people give you an ID of this beastie?

At first reading I was thinking about the "salt wedge" effect that allows marine critters to move and live far upstream in coastal rivers, but Waco is more than 200 miles above Galveston Bay!   Is there any naturally (or unnaturally) brackish water around there?  Is there shipping traffic on the Brazos River between Waco and Houston?  If so maybe the crab was a stow-away in ballast water or something?