Help me identfy crayfish!

[Tyla 3,179]

Ok, which are these? if they are native whiteclaw they are going back, if they are signal they are not. Thank you!

[Halfinch 51]

Methinks whiteclaw, Signal crays iv'e seen had red claws, hence the name.

[Hob&Jill 258]

Im 90% sure they are signals, but have never seen a white so I'm not sure how similar they look.

 

Have a look on the underside of there claw and is its red then they are 100% signals

 

Edited to add, it is only the underside of the claw that is red. To be honest its very doubtful to be whites as they are so rare, if they are then you should contact the EA and let them know.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Hob&Jill

[stone-cold 0]

the american signal crayfish are much bigger than our native ones,and i believe they do have red underclaws

eat the signals they damage fish stocks

[Tyla 3,179]

Hmmm .... dont know what to do now. Any way to definately id them one way or other?

 

The claws have a slight orange tinge underneath but i wouldnt really describe them as red. The biggest one is about 8" long with body about 2" across.

[alexewers 0]

virtually certain that they are signal due to the size and the claws you descibe they dont have to be bright red just eat them

[Halfinch 51]

8" long, with orange tint, then i'd go with signal too, was hard too tell from the picture, but native crays are a lot smaller than the signal, do like alex say's, EAT EM.

[SEAN3513 7]

99% sure they are signals because of the size of em...................white claws,claws are as the name suggests and they are only about 4-5 inches.

 

good eating them signals........especially the tails

[Ste* 0]

I dont really know much about crayfish but i have caught a few signal crayfish and they were a lot brighter (RED)

but that could be something to do with mating i dont really no but they were a lot bigger then them ones

so i would go for white claw.

[leegreen 2,173]

8" long 2" wide thats a 8x2 sandwich

[Hob&Jill 258]

Listen mate they are signals 110%. The only reason I considered otherwise in my last post was because I didnt want to say eat them then some white claw boffin came and said they were whiteys.

 

I have trapped hundreds, its part of my job as a fishery bailiff to lift the traps and they are signals, no doubt.

 

Boiled with sweet chillie sauce

[Ste* 0]

Listen mate they are signals 110%. The only reason I considered otherwise in my last post was because I didnt want to say eat them then some white claw boffin came and said they were whiteys.

 

I have trapped hundreds, its part of my job as a fishery bailiff to lift the traps and they are signals, no doubt.

 

Boiled with sweet chillie sauce

 

As i said in my post i dont really now a lot about crayfish just that the signals i caught were a lot reder

and a bit bigger so i still think that they are white claws because i have just read a description of a white clawed crayfish and it matches them.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Ste*

[Murph 30]

Tyla they are 100% NOT Signals, they are also not native White clawed.

 

I am a full time crayfish trapper and have trapped hundreds of thousands of signals and as far as anyone can tell me I am the only site licensed to hold all 5 non-native species of crayfish found in the UK. They are Turkish mate, still ok to remove (with appropriate removal consent of course ) and fine to eat. The other non-natives found are the Noble crayfish, Spiny cheeked (Australian), and the Marbled (Red swamp). The "signal" part of a signal cray is actually a white spot on the top of the claw, not the red underside as most people think.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Murph

[Ste* 0]

And here is part of the description

 

The white clawed crayfish have a single pair of post-orbital (behind the eyes) ridges unlike the signal crayfish that has two pairs. The body of white-clawed crayfish is smooth, generally brown to olive in colour with a pitted appearance. Signal crayfish also have a smooth body but the colour is often more reddish-brown. Claws of signal crayfish are smooth and red on the underside with a white-turquoise patch on top of the junction of claw. White-clawed crayfish have rough top sides of their claws with dirty-white to pink colour on the underneath

 

Murph you probably are right but i think that description of the white clawed crayfish matches them in the bucket.

[Murph 30]

Ste,

 

I agree there is not much in it when you read the descriptions given out by the EA but the main points to look for are the size difference between Turks and English (Turks are generally a lot biggger) and also the claws, English have claws that look in proportion to their body but Turks have the really long, narrow claws that are also often a different shade to the body (lighter), the claws on an English are the same colour as the body. I have caugh signals in black, brown red and bright blue, the colours the EA give can be a bit misleading as it depends on the colour of the habitat they live in (silt=black, clay=red/brown) and how long it has been since their last moult, the colours tend to be brighter soon after moulting.

 

 

When you look at these signals from a distance it is the white spot on the claw that stands out on them, then look at the ones in the bucket, no white spots so not signals and narrow claws and large, natives don't get much past 4" long, most I've seen are 2 or 3".

Edited April 21, 2008 by Murph