Did you know the Blue Mountains is home to one of the world's largest crayfish-the Giant Spiny Crayfish? These smart, elusive creatures can be seen in the warmer months glowing bright orange or bluish-green in creek beds.
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Crayfish fuel abundant wildlife. For every 1,000 baby crayfish born, only one will survive to old age. The rest become a vital food source for many other creatures like turtles, platypus, rakali (native water rats similar to otters) and water birds. Crayfish also play a vital role as scavengers - hoovering up waste and helping keep our creeks healthy and clean. No-one knows exactly how long these crayfish live but it's at least 30-50 years (possibly up to 100)!
People often confuse our local spiny crayfish with yabbies - which grow quickly, breed early, and are introduced pests in the mountains. You can tell them apart by their claws. If the bottom edge is smooth, it's a yabby, if spiny, it may be one of two local 'spinies'.
Crayfish face many dangers from runoff, pesticides and habitat destruction, and illegal fishing. They are slow to mature and only start breeding from around 9 years. Crayfish traps are not only illegal in the Blue Mountains (except for in private dams), they drown other wildlife such as platypus, turtles, and rakali.
You can help crayfish by leaving them in creeks, and by keeping pollution (pesticides, fertilisers or detergents) out of stormwater drains.
