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Cherax Albidus

Yabby

Cherax Albidus
The Victorian Blue Yabby
Yabby
Real Yabby

Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Family:     Parastacidae
Genus:     Cherax
Species:     Cherax Albidus

Local Name : crawbob, freshwater crayfish, lobby, yabbie, the "White Yabby", The Victorian Blue Yabby, Blue Yabby

Habitat Cherax Albidus / Yabby : Victoria, Australia

Water Temperature : 15 to 27 deg Celcius


pH : 5 - 8

Size in Natural : Up to 15 grams, up to 15 cm

The everyday, or common, name yabbie (from an aboriginal word) is loosely used for several species of small freshwater crayfish in eastern Australia. The true, or scientific, name for our Yabby in WA is Cherax albidus. The first name is the group, or genus, of rather similar crayfish to which yabbies belong (over 30 species in Australia and PNG, including marron, koonacs and gilgies in WA). The generic name, Cherax, is thought to be a mispelling of the Greek word Charax, meaning a pointed stake - a thing that scratches. The second name (no capital letter) is the particular species, the white Yabby which was first named as Cherax albidus by a Victorian museum taxonomist, Dr Ellen Clark, in 1936. Our yabbies were introduced from the Wimmera farming district in western Victoria - the exact spot is known, Miram swamp near Nihil. It is an interesting coincidence that the species name for our yabbies is derived from the same Latin word ("albus" = white) which is used to describe the reflection of sunlight from our white clay dams ("albido"), where white yabbies are so successf

Smooth shells and are a range of coloured depending upon the colour of their habitat (mud silt water etc) Their colour therefore ranges from greens to yellows, browns to blacks and red or Blue Mostly though the colours are drab due to them being found mostly in mud and silt Yabbies usually grow to a length of up to 150 mm depending upon conditions They have eyes on the end of little stalks They also have 3 sets of antennae which provide the yabby with the ability to touch things Yabbies have gills like fish so they can "breathe" under water Like most crayfish the Yabbies have 2 large "pincer like" claws at the front These are used mainly for defence against other Yabbies and predators as well as for grasping food, and for digging burrows Yabbies have 4 sets of "walking legs and a long thick "tail"

The number of eggs increases with size of female crayfish. If the numbers of eggs in the ovaries are counted, this "potential fecundity" can be related to female size by an equation. However, the "actual fecundity" or number of eggs or hatched young on the tail of a female is always less than the potential fecundity and for yabbies the number is extremely variable for females of a given size. Some researchers have found no relationship to female size; we do have an equation with rather wide limits. Most berried females have from 200 to 400 eggs.

Distribution Map of  Cherax Albidus