In this article I will be discussing crayfish, otherwise known as crawfish. I will be explaining my observations before and then also after I researched them. I will also discuss how you can eat them, how crayfish reproduce and a few interesting facts about them.
My observations before researching about the crayfish:
The first thing you notice when looking at a crayfish is that they look like mini lobsters. I noticed that crayfish claws grow back after they are cut off. I also noticed that they swim backwards but walk forward. They probably swim backwards to swim away from predators while still having eyes on them. When picking up a crayfish I saw that they have ten legs, five on each side. They also have long antenna, which I thought could be for feeling the vibrations.
What I learnt after research:
Crayfish resemble small lobsters because they are the closest relative to the lobster. Although, they are not a part of the lobster family. There are more than 500 species of crayfish in North America and they live in fresh water, like streams and ponds. Crayfish breath through their feather like gills, and eat animals and plants that they find in their habitat, crayfish eat almost anything they can catch. It can live for about 1 to 20 years, depending on the species. Crayfish reproduce sexually and they mate and lay their eggs in spring.
Crayfish have two pairs of antennae. The short pair are called antennules and help them taste their food. The long antennae are used for more sensory stuff like vibrations and finding their food.
Many people eat crayfish, therefore there are many recipes online that you can find. I will only explain the basics of cooking them. To cook them you can boil them just like lobster. It takes about 8 minutes to boil them and you must put a lot of salt (2 tablespoons per crayfish).
Last but not least, after researching and observing I came upon three fun facts that were worth sharing.
1. Hey urinate to attract a mate
2. They eat their babies
3. Crayfish have many names depending on their region. Some are quite funny names such as crawdaddies, mudbugs, and yabbies.
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