The Huon Story Edn 13 - Flipbook - Page 6
The
Mystery
of the
Freshwater Crayfish
D i d you kn o w tha t Ta sma nia
has 34 spec ies of fre shwa te r
c ra y fish ? The large st , G ia nt
Fr e s hw ater C ray fish or Ast a c o psis gou ldi are t he world ’s
l argest freshw ate r crust a ce a n
a n d o n e o f the world ’s la rge st
l an d in v ertebrate s.
Spec im en s of 6kg a nd ove r 8 0
c m len g th have b e e n re cord e d
a n d they have only b e e n known
t o l i ve in river syst e ms in Northe r n Tasm an ia. Living up to 6 0
y ears, they are slow to grow
a n d repro du c e.
In 2019, a partnership
between Huon Aquaculture
and ecologist Todd Walsh
caught and placed a female
in berry at Huon’s Springfield Hatchery.
She ha tche d a rou nd 60 you ng
b e fore b e i ng re l e a s e d b a ck
t o he r c a p tu re s i te . The you ng
sp e nt thre e ye a rs a t S p ri ngf i e l d
unt il they’d grow n l a rge e nou gh
t o ha ve a d e ce nt cha nce of
sur viva l a nd i n M a y 2021, they
we re re l e a s e d i nto a ri ve r i n
Northe rn Ta s ma ni a .
We d on’t ex p e ct to s e e the
re le a sed you ng f or a nothe r
fe w ye a rs , a s they a re ma s te rs
of d isgu i s e , b u t re ma i n hop e ful the ir s u r vi va l ra te ha s b e e n
good .
This ye a r, H u on e mb a rke d on
a not he r p a rtne rs hi p w i th Tod d ,
t his t ime to ha tch a nd grow
t he G ia nt Fre s hw a te r Cra y fish’s cl os e re l a ti ve As ta cop s i s
t ricornis .
It ha s a ve r y s i mi l a r l i f e a nd
b re e d in g cycl e to the gou l d i
b ut is s ma l l e r, ge ne ra l l y grow ing t o a rou nd 1kg. I t ha s b e e n
found in S ou the rn ri ve rs a nd
ha s a lso b e e n ob s e r ve d l i vi ng
a nd b ree d i ng i n ca ve s .
The Inla nd Fi s he ri e s S e r vi ce
a nd NRE ’s Thre a te ne d S p e ci e s
U nit a p p rove d a p e rmi t f or
H u on to ca p tu re a tri co r n i s i n
b e rr y f rom a S ou the rn r i v e r ( t o
hol d u nti l he r e ggs ha tc he d) .
Recently Todd went in
search and received a pleasant surprise! He discovered
a female gouldi plus eggs in
a river she wasn’t supposed
to exist.
Thi s p re s e nte d a d i l e mm a as
once s he w a s l i f te d f rom t he
w a te r, s he cou l d n’t b e r e t u r n e d;
a s a l i s te d thre a te ne d s pe c i e s
s he ca nnot b e re l e a s e d i n t o
a n e nvi ronme nt tha t i s n’t t he i r
know n ha b i ta t.
S he ’s now hou s e d a t ou r Lo n na va l e ha tche r y; p e nd i n g a
d e ci s i on by the I FS a nd Thr e at e ne d S p e ci e s a s to he r fu t u r e .
S he w a s u nce re moni ous l y
tra ns p orte d to Lonna va l e i n a
p ros a i c b l u e Es ki i n the bac k o f
Tod d ’s u te !
Ou t i n the s u nl i ght, s he i s a
s hi mme ri ng me ta l l i c gre e n b l u e . Tod d s a ys thi s col o u r i n g
i s t yp i ca l once they’ve m at u r e d
- w e i ghi ng ne a rl y 1. 5 ki l o s ,
he b e l i eve s he r to b e aro u n d
O n L an d
6
THE HUON STORY
|
Huon Aquaculture
|
Edition Thirteen
