Euastacus clydensis has been reinstated as a valid species.

Originally, Edgar Riek described two giant spiny crayfish species, firstly in 1956 E. spinosus from the upper reaches of the Hastings River, New South Wales, then secondly in 1969 E. clydensis, from a side stream of the Clyde River near Brooman, and paratypes from near Conjola, New South Wales. Morgan (1997) revised the taxonomy of (more…)

The Swamp Yabby Cherax latimanus – A NEW species for NSW & Vic

After 15 years of rigorous research we finally described a new species of yabby. The Swamp Yabby (Cherax latimanus) was formally described and published in the peer-reviewed international journal Zootaxa. Robert McCormack from Australian Aquatic Biological as part of the Australian Crayfish Project (ACP) and Tarmo Raadik from the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, (more…)

Save the Spinys

Project:  100086 Saving the spinys: urgent actions to conserve the Euastacus freshwater crayfish Spiny crayfish from the Euastacus genus are an inconspicuous casualty of the widespread and enduring bushfires that profoundly impacted Australia over 2019–20. As with other freshwater animals, spiny crayfish were not only directly impacted as the bushfires swept over the landscape but (more…)

Freshwater Sponges (Family: Spongillidae)

Freshwater sponges are very primitive organisms, members of the phylum Porifera (which means “pore bearer”). They have relatively soft bodies full of channels and pores allowing water to circulate through them. Their bodies are a network of fibres and branches with needle type projections – quite weird under the microscope. I’m not a spongiologist and (more…)

East Gippsland Survey Season Commences 2016

The high country of East Gippsland is a difficult area to survey as the window of opportunity is small. In summer it’s too hot and subject to bushfires and road closures. In winter, it’s too cold and the crayfish have retired to their deep burrows being extremely difficult to find. This just leaves the spring (more…)

Second Hand Yabby Hatchery, Purging, Holding and Display System For Sale

SOLD-THIS SYSTEM HAS BEEN SOLD The disposal of a complete yabby aquaculture set up has become available. This is a Yabby Hatchery/Holding/Purging and display facility. It represents a unique opportunity to purchase a complete recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) at an affordable price. Two complete rooms are available: ROOM 1 The first room consists of 12 (more…)

An expedition to Victoria –November 2015

I had the pleasure of traveling to Victoria to present a lecture on “The Freshwater Crayfish of Victoria” to the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club. They were great crowd and I had a great time chatting with them. Whilst in the Bendigo area I sampled the local creeks and streams, only finding yabbies Cherax destructor. The (more…)

2015 Expedition to Far North Queensland

Early September 2015 four volunteers on the Australian Crayfish Project (ACP) met at Townsville Queensland for a crayfish research expedition. We met at Cocoa Creek, on Cape Cleveland approximately 17 km east of Townsville. We all got there pretty much together just before sunset. Cocoa Creek is a small muddy deep water creek flowing through (more…)

A Day in the Swamps of Katoomba Chasing the Giant Dragonfly Petalura gigantea

In late December 2014, I met up with Dr Ian Baird one of Australia’s foremost experts on Giant Dragonflies and we spent the day together wandering selected swamps of the Blue Mountains hunting this rare and elusive species. This was an eye opener for me and I had a fantastic day learning all about Giant Dragonflies. (more…)