Crayfish

=Keannu's Red Crayfish Tail= J//asus edwardsii// || A hard shell is good protection but a bit of a problem when it comes to growing! The crayfish has to shed or **moult** its skin and grow another one - adults moult once a year. || First the **carapace** (abdomen) detaches from the tail. Then the crayfish hunches its body up, pulls out its legs from the old shell and wriggles forwards. It's in danger of being eaten until its new skin hardens. ||
 * [[image:P1090957.JPG width="174" height="260"]]
 * Red Crayfish or**
 * Spiny Rock Lobster**
 * A moulting crayfish.**


 * [[image:smile.jpg]] || =__Crayfish maths :__=

How old is Keannu's crayfish?
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 * ===[[image:cray5.jpg]]=== || **You probably all know that....**

Red Crayfish hide in crevices and caves around reefs during the day and come out at night to feed on shellfish, crabs, sea stars and kina.


 * But you may not know that....**

Crayfish and insects are related! They both belong to a large group called the **arthropods**. on the outside made of **chitin**. ||
 * Arthropods** all have legs made up of segmentsand a hard skeleton

The tale of a crayfish....
These tiny crayfish looked like squashed spiders. They drift around the sea for about 1 year, growing from 2 - 50mm long. Heaps of them get eaten! || The larvae that survive settle on the bottom of the ocean. At this stage they are about 5cm long and look like tiny adults. They stay like this for about 2 years until they become young adults. Heaps of them get eaten too! ||
 * [[image:crayfish.jpg width="401" height="302"]]
 * Crayfish larvae.**

Young crayfish are real adventurers!
Crayfish that have been tagged in Otago have been caught in Fiordland - a journey of 850kms. They walk along the sea floor against the current, down the Southland coast, around the southern tip of Stewart Island, up the West coast towards southern Westland.

Read more about**[| Red Crayfish]** from the Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand site.