Red Swamp Crawfish

Procambarus clarkii

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For centuries, human commerce has played a role in distributing plant and animal species around the globe. But not every species can claim the title of circumnavigator. In this week’s episode, Ari Daniel Shapiro journeys to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. to meet a tiny Magellan, the star of an unlikely story that has come full circle.

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Image Credit: Valter Jacinto, Flickr: EOL Images. CC BY-NC-SA

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Educational Materials

Don't forget to check out educational materials for this podcast, provided by our partner, National Geographic Education.

The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology.

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Meet the Scientists

Red Swamp Crawfish: Meet the Scientist

Meet Rusty Gaudé, the scientist featured in the Red Swamp Crawfish podcast:

Where do you work?

I am the Louisiana Sea Grant field extension fishery agent for the Mississippi River delta parishes, utilizing a mixed experience base including both private fishery sector and academia. Sharing my NOAA Sea Grant joint appointment as a faculty member of the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter, I am able to draw from the combined resources of both organizations based on the LSU campus located inland at Baton Rouge.

What do you study?

My research is focused on the commercial quantities of Louisiana quahog clams, I am engaged in developing a new State industry from an underutilized fishery resource.

What are three titles you would give yourself?

Systemic naturalist, fishery realist, aquacultural optimist (and a native New Orleanian!).

What do you like to do when you are not working?

Landscape horticulture, working for the advancement of human sensitivity.

What do you like most about science?

Discovering what is blatant but unrecognized.

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Extras

Red Swamp Crawfish Podcast: Extras

Images

Facts

These freshwater crustaceans are also known as crawfish or crawdads. Where did the name “crayfish” come from? One theory is that it is based on a 14th-century French word, crevice. Another theory is that it comes from an old German word, krebitz, for “little crab.”

Species can end up traveling the world when they hitch a ride on the hulls of ships or are discharged in bilge water. In their new homes, they are often invasive pests. Meet the zebra mussel and the club tunicate.The zebra mussel can foul the exhaust pipes of power stations, and club tunicates (also known as sea squirts) can clog aquaculture cages, smothering other marine organisms.

In some parts of the world, spiny lobsters are also called crayfish. Spiny lobsters live in the sea, not fresh water.

Participate

Crawfish are popular on menus the world over. Do you have a favorite crawfish dish in your corner of the world? Share it with us on Twitter (@eol), with the hashtag #eolcrayfish.

Learn how to enjoy the boating on the water without spreading aquatic hitchhikers. Visit protectyourwaters.net for information on invasives and tips on detection and monitoring.