New Australian Crayfish Is a Tiny Cannibal

A new species of crayfish discovered in southeast Australia's coastal lakes and swamps is one of the world's smallest crayfish species, researchers report.

The tiny, blue-black crustacean resembles its larger cousins that end up in cooking pots, such as lobsters and crawdads. But this species, which locals call a lake yabby, measures only 0.5 to 0.7 inches long. The biggest one found was just 0.8 inches long, and weighed 0.2 ounces.

Despite its small size, the yabby is a powerful burrower, riddling its swampy habitat with burrows up to 3 feet deep. The burrows reach down to the shallow water table, and help the crayfish survive dry stretches — Australia's coastal swamps regularly drain and dry up, then flood with up to 5 feet of water. Thick grasses and reeds in the swamps and lakes provide protection for the petite crayfish, which is prey for eels, birds, fish, lizards and turtles. Read more...