Red Swamp Crayfish

Procambarus clarkii

The red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, is the Louisiana crawfish familiar from ponds, ditches, rice fields, and wetland margins. Native to the south-central United States and northeastern Mexico, it has been moved widely for food production, bait, and aquaria. Adults are usually dark red to reddish brown with stout claws and small tubercles, though juveniles and some captive lines can look much darker or lighter. The species grows quickly, tolerates low oxygen better than many crayfish, and digs burrows that let it survive drought and seasonal water changes.

This crayfish supports major aquaculture in warm climates, especially where rice and crawfish are rotated in shallow fields. In aquariums it is hardy but destructive: plants may be clipped, tankmates may be eaten, and lids must stop escapes. Keepers use hard, clean, well-aerated water, shelters for molting animals, and a diet of sinking foods, vegetation, and occasional protein. Because red swamp crayfish are invasive in many regions and can carry diseases harmful to native crayfish, live release and outdoor culture are tightly regulated or banned in some places.