Help me identfy crayfish!

[SEAN3513 7]

bloody hell murph..you know your stuff.............very interesting!!!

 

where abouts in the country are you?? and do you ever come across the white claw in its native environment.........havn't seen any for a long time!!??

 

good post mate

 

all the best sean

[Murph 30]

Cheers Sean,

 

I'm in Lincolnshire but most of my work is around London as the signals are still spreading from that area, also, the water is slightly warmer down south and so that bit more productive than up north. I have only ever seen white-clawed crayfish in 2 places, both when I was netting for coarse fish with seine nets and they came up on the lead lines. I never come across them in trappping season as the places I work are so infested with signals you can forget about finding any natives. Sad to think they'll probably be extinct in the wild in another 20 years.

[SEAN3513 7]

it is sad mate..........a bit like the sqiurrel senario...........anyway keep up the good work mate.

 

all the best

sean

[Ste* 0]

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".

 

Murph You obviously know a lot more about crayfish then i do

so i agree with you

[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

 

 

Well I stand corrected Serves me right for saying 110% lol Only thing that made me say it was the decription that they are 8" long.

 

To be honest I didnt even know there was any others than whiteclaw and signals Murph, are the others legally to take and eat?

 

 

Retiring back under my stone...lol

 

HJ

[Tyla 3,179]

Glad you guys cleared that up for me! i just enjoyed a delicious meal of thai green chilli crayfish with rice. Definately putting the trap out again!

 

Thanks for all your input!

[SEAN3513 7]

nice one tyla..................lucky bugger!!!!!!

 

bet them tails where good??

[Murph 30]

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

 

 

Well I stand corrected Serves me right for saying 110% lol Only thing that made me say it was the decription that they are 8" long.

 

To be honest I didnt even know there was any others than whiteclaw and signals Murph, are the others legally to take and eat?

 

 

Retiring back under my stone...lol

 

HJ

 

Hobandjill,

 

Yes the others are legal to take and eat but you must specify on your consent the species you wish to remove. Signals are generally considered the best eating (hence why they were introduced so widely), Turkish are second in terms of size, then marbled and noble, the australian spiny cheeked is pretty rare. The noble crayfish is farmed in the east and is the crayfish you see on most pub menus, they are imported in tubs of brine. The one to look out for in the future is the marbled, although smaller than the signal, it produces more eggs per individual and can breed up to 3 times a year whereas the signal only breeds once. To top it all it's a hermaphrodite so 1 crayfish can start its own population in a river or lake-the are going to be a huge problem in the future in the UK.

 

Regards,

 

Murph

[Nemo 0]

have any of you boys had any dealings with these cotton clawed crabs in the thames ?

[Guest bigredbusa]

murph , intresting post fella .

 

i tried traps round cambridge way but havent had a peep , are they round this way ?

 

oh also , thats a lot of crays in that pic . how much do they go for in such huge numbers?

[sauer 2]

something ive always wondered bout trying..

 

Murph im in the north east of scotland south of aberdeen a bit.

i know nowt bout crays but love them boiled with the already mentioned sweet chile sauce... always wanted to try to get em for myself

do we get em up here?

whom do you have to speak to for permission other than land/estate owner?

are traps readily availbale?

 

etc etc.. a beginners guide murph?

 

would be good reading

 

 

sauer

Edited April 28, 2008 by sauer

[Dullahan 0]

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.

 

Murph, is it not true that the main reason for the decline in native British crayfish was the 'Crayfish plague' caused by a fungus brought here by the American Crayfish (a sort of Crayfish AIDS) and now it is becoming prevelant in the Australian Crayfish and may be attacking the Turkish crayfish. This is why some of the habitats are being designated SSI by the E.A. and licences are being issued.

[Murph 30]

Sorry to drag up this thread again but my internet has been down and I haven't been able to reply! In answer to your questions:

 

Nemo- I have had dealings with mittens accidentally in the past but have found absolutely no market or use for them, I know places where you could fill up traps with them but there doesn't seem any point as no-one will pay you to take them out and no-one will buy them either.

 

Bigredbusa- Yes, they are found in the Cambridge area in places and they are not worth loads in large quantities as they are all going out at trade prices. If they are moving hard and you catch them right you can have several times as many as in that picture in a day.

 

Sauer- Scotland is too far away for me to travel and work but there is currently quite a bit of worry as they are present up there in some of the big Salmon rivers, their liking for fish eggs will mean trouble for fish stock so they are apparently being trapped hard to try and contain them. A cray trapping guide sounds ok to me if there is any interest from others in making one.

 

Dullahan- The plague is a fungus that lives on the signals naturally and doesn't harm them, a bit like Weils disease and rats, I know it kills English and have known it kill Turkish but I don't honestly know about the Australian as it is still pretty rare over here.

 

Regards,

 

Murph

Edited May 13, 2008 by Murph

[Murph 30]

Sorry duplicate post

Edited May 13, 2008 by Murph

[Guest bigredbusa]

murph , you need to post more fella . great posts as i love this sort of thing . thankyou