Field Guide

The St. Francis River crayfish is rather small and dark brown, with blackish blotches or specks over the upper surfaces of the pincers, carapace, and abdomen. It is limited to the St. Francis River and its tributaries.

Adult White River crawfish are usually a deep burgundy red with a black V-shaped stripe on the abdomen. Juveniles are gray with dark spots scattered over the carapace. In Missouri, this species mostly occurs in the Bootheel and north along the Mississippi River.

Adult red swamp crawfish are dark red (nearly black on the carapace) and have a wedge-shaped black stripe on the abdomen. Juveniles are a uniform gray, sometimes overlain by dark wavy lines. In Missouri it lives in the Bootheel.

The shrimp crayfish is medium-small, light reddish brown to gray, and thickly dusted with darker specks. Its noselike rostrum is unusually long, with the tip longer than the base, and the pincers are narrow and weak. It is found in the Bootheel.

Most people are repulsed by leeches. But once you get past the fact that many species are parasitic bloodsuckers, you will discover that they are fascinating creatures with an important role in nature.

Bryozoans are tiny, filter-feeding invertebrates. They create colonies that can be mossy, branching, or round and jellylike.

Crayfish are freshwater aquatic invertebrates that look a lot like small lobsters, to which they are related. There are about 38 species of crayfish in Missouri.