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Beche De Mer
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Also known as Crawfish, Freshwater Crayfish

Yabbies are freshwater crayfish which are distinguished from others by having 4 low ridges along the head and a short smooth rostrum.  Their claws are broad and spade-like, with serrations along their inner edge.  The claws are sometimes covered with a matt of fine hairs.  Body colour ranges from pale to dark brown and there is a distinctive mottled pattern on the outer edge of the claws.

Yabbies are widely distributed throughout central and southern inland Australia.   There is also a translocated population in the south-west of Western Australia.

Yabbies live in both temporary and permanent habitats including rivers, creeks, billabongs, lakes, irrigation canals, farm dams, swamps and bore drains.  They generally inhabit turbid, slow flowing or still, shallow water but they can be found in waters up to 5 metres deep, depending on the levels of dissolved oxygen.

Juveniles are often found associated with microphytes, that is large emergent aquatic plants in the shallower parts of water bodies.

Temperature limits for yabbies are between 0°C and 36°C.  Yabbies can survive periods of drought by burrowing in damp soil and they remain in their burrows until the next rains.

Yabbies spawn from October to March, with peak activity between December and February.   Spawning is induced by an increase in day length and water temperature (above 15°C)  It is not uncommon to find 1000 eggs on a large female.

Following spawning, the female carries the eggs under her tail, where they incubate for 3 weeks.

Like all crustaceans, yabbies have to moult as they grow.  The frequency of this decreasing as they grow older.  Weight can increase by up to 50% with each moult.

Feeding activity peaks at dusk and dawn.  Their diet is mainly detritus, plant material and small invertebrates.  Yabbies are cannibalistic and smaller animals often are eaten by larger animals.  Yabbies are also preyed on by fish, water rats, fresh water tortoises and water birds.  Water birds, particularly Cormorants, can be a major pest in commercial aquaculture operations.

Yabbies are fished commercially.  They are taken wild, but there is an increase in farming yabbies.

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