Field Guide

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.

Unlike their parasitic cousins in the flatworm group, turbellarians, or planarians, are tiny carnivores or detritus-eaters that glide smoothly across submerged leaves and other objects.

The woodland crayfish is stout, reddish tan to dark brown, with numerous blackish specks and blotches on the pincers, carapace, and abdomen. It occurs only in Missouri, especially in the Black River and its tributaries.

The Ozark crayfish is light brown to reddish brown with numerous black specks on the pincers and often on the abdomen as well. The pincers are broad and powerful. It lives in the White and Black stream systems.

The grassland crayfish is rather uniformly colored either bright red or reddish and has broad, powerful pincers. It inhabits prairies and grasslands from Wisconsin and Indiana to Texas, including grasslands in northern and western Missouri.

The digger crayfish is heavy-bodied, reddish tan, with a pale, iridescent stripe along the midline of the abdomen and short, broad pincers. In Missouri, it is known from only a few locations, mostly in southeastern counties.

The saddleback crayfish has a bold blackish band across the hind margin of the carapace and lacks dark blotches or specks. The pincers are broad and powerful. It occurs in the Big and Meramec river drainages.

The ringed crayfish is olive green to reddish tan and usually has black or brown rings around the pincer tips. In Missouri it is found in clear, rocky Ozark streams in the southwestern quarter.