922 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



CRAYFISH, DORSAL SIDE 



The abdomen is turned under as at the end of a 

 swimming stroke. 



sioiially serve for bait or to furnish amusement 

 for the youngsters, and which sometimes makes 

 a nuisance of itself by burrowing into dams and 

 levees, allowing the water to seep out. 



Even the fact that the crayfish has a very 

 considerable food value is known to but a small 

 percentage of Americans. The crayfishes are all 

 edible and are eaten in many parts of the world, 

 and only the small size of most of the species 

 has prevented them from being any less popular 

 than the lobster as an article of diet. The large 

 muscles of the abdomen, similar to those of the 

 lobster, are the most valuable parts. ]\Iany a 

 country boy has discovered that a luscious tidbit 

 may be obtained by removing the big muscle and 

 toasting it on a stick before his campfire. In 

 Europe they are commonly nsed, and in some 

 places are cultivated for market. 



The special report on the fisheries of the 

 United States contained in the last report of the 

 Bureau of the Census, states that in the year 

 I9O8 the total catch of crayfish in this country 

 was 6(36,000 |)ounds, netting the fisherman $31.- 

 000 — a little over five cents a pound. The states 

 chiefly interested in this industry at that time 

 were Louisiana, 88,000 lbs.; Oregon, 178,000 

 lbs., and Wisconsin, 348,000 lbs. But the Ore- 



gon crayfish (of the genus Asfactis) are larger 

 than the eastern species (of the genus Caviba- 

 rus) and so command a higher price. Perhaps 

 the absence of lobsters from the Pacific coast 

 may have been a contributing factor, but at any 

 rate the Oregon catch was valued at $14,000, 

 while the AVisconsin catch, though nearly twice 

 as large, was valued at the same figure. While 

 crayfishes may be taken by lines, nets and seines, 

 the chief method of capture is the trap or pot, 

 and, according to the census estimate, 606,000 

 pounds of the total were taken in this manner. 

 In New York City the demand for crayfishes is 

 confined almost entirely to the foreign popula- 

 tion, who have learned abroad to appreciate the 

 delicacy of this aquatic food. Yet a very con- 

 siderable quantity is consumed here, and ship- 

 ments are received from numerous sources. Dr. 

 E. A. Andrews* is responsible for the state- 

 ment that one-half million crayfishes are shipped 

 to New York annually from a very limited re- 

 gion on the Potomac River. 



The crayfishes belong to the decapod, or ten- 

 footed Crustacea, and are thus closely related to 

 the marine lob.ster and prawn. They constitute 

 a separate family, the Astacidae, which is rep- 

 resented in every continent (Africa excepted) 

 and in many of the larger islands of the world. 

 This family is divided into two sub-families : the 

 Astacinae and the Parasiacinae, limited respec- 

 tively to the northern and southern hemispheres, 

 with the exception that the genus Parastacus 

 of South America ranges northward into ^Mexico. 

 For some unknown reason, the crayfishes have 

 been unable to adapt themselves well to the con- 

 ditions of life in the tropics, and but few 

 s|iecies are found outside of the temperate zones. 

 Quite a number occur in Mexico, especially in 

 the highlands where temperate conditions obtain. 



The Astacinae contain three genera whose dis- 

 tribution is very interesting and the reasons for 

 which are not fully understood. The species of 

 Astacus occupy Europe and western Asia and 

 the Pacific slope of North America, while the 

 genus Camharus is limited to North America 

 east of the Rocky ^Mountains, and the closely re- 

 lated Cambaroides to eastern Asia. Thus each 

 group, Astacus, and Camharus plus Caviha- 

 roides, is divided into two widely separated 

 fields, between which occurs a division of the 

 other group. There is no overlapjiing of the 

 groups to indicate that they have occupied the 

 same region at the same time. The absence of 

 crayfish from Africa is especially interesting in 

 view of the fact that they occur in Madagascar. 

 This, however, is in accord with the distribu- 



*The Future of the Crayfish Industry, 

 new series, vol. XXIII, pp. 983-6. 



Science, 



