Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Louisiana crayfish eating their way around Africa

It seems that culinary tourism isn't limited to human vacations.  Louisiana crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is a fresh water crayfish and was brought to Africa as an aquaculture crop. Africa has no native freshwater crayfish and without aggressive competition or predators, it has spread though lakes, ponds and rivers through adjacent catchments and it can also travel across land to other waterbodies.  It has caused disruption of ecosystems due to over-consumption of fish eggs, fingerlings and just about any other food source available based on their location.

Louisiana crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) by Chris Taylor, Illinois Histroty Survey, Bugwood.org