Descriptive
Information
- Field
marks: Miniature lobster,
brown, green, with speckles, hard exterior, 4 pairs of walking legs,
2 long antennae, 2 pinchers, 2 beady black eyes.
- Size:
4 inches in length
- General
habitat: Small streams, floodplain
pools
- Ecosystem(s)
where observed: Woods
- Field
Observations : Your field observations:
We found this crayfish walking across the street at our campground
in Long Pine Key. We were surprised to find it in that area, The
pond was about 400 yards away. It was about 9:30 at night. At first
we thought it was a scorpion but upon further investigation we determined
it was a crayfish. We tried to block
it into a corner using flashlights and cans of bug spray. We
did this to get some pictures of it. But it somehow overcame the
obstacles and crawled over them. It was very difficult to get the
crayfish to hold still. It appeared to use its tail as a way of
locomotion as well as defense. I tried to press down on it, but
it curled its tail and snapped back into its original position.
When we picked it up it curled its tail
and then whipped it out and then tried to grab Jonathan with its
pinchers. It was a fiesty crayfish and obviously agitated with us
handling it. At one point in time we picked it up and shined a flashlight
on it. For a few moments it held still. We brought it back to our
campsite and placed it in an empty peanut canister. It was really
trying to crawl out of the canister. We loosely covered the canister
and left. We came back 5-10 minutes later, only to discover it was
gone. We speculate a raccoon ate it.
- References:
Alden, P. National Audubon Society Field Guide To Florida.
Alfred A Knopf, New York. 1998. Pg 210
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