crustation ID?

[theboywithnohats]

Hi guys! Was out looking for birds today (which I failed with...) but saw this in the river Etherow very near Stockport centre for those of you that know it....can anybody tell me what it is? Had a quick look in a book at closest thing I can find is a crayfish but it says those are very rare, and I saw 2 together!

Water species aren't my forte so make me happy!

[GuyF]

It is a Crayfish species. However nowadays in the UK as well as our native crayfish we also have the introduced Signal Crayfish which has taken over in many of our rivers, and I think possibly a third species. I'm not sure how you tell the difference between the different crayfish, but maybe because of habitat this is the Signal Crayfish.
Guy

[Tiggrx]

I think the white patch at the "joint" of the claws means it is a Signal Crayfish

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Yeah thats a Signal

[Dan Salter]

yes its Lunch....oops i mean its a Signal Crayfish.

[Jez]

Is it Ronnie or reggie Crayfish i don't know?

[theboywithnohats]

Originally Posted by Jez

Is it Ronnie or reggie Crayfish i don't know?

cheers for the replies!

[Charles Halliday]

Yep - signal - the biggest giveaway is that its red. The locked thread on crayfish is dated and I believe it is now perfectly acceptable to remove these horrible but tasty pests. An update would be appreciated please admin?

I dread to think how many insect species may have become victim to signals. We can blame who we like for their spread, but at the end of the day, we need to accept that the battle is lost in all but a few areas. In my view, we need to reduce the populations as much as possible or other fauna will be disrupted or killed off completely.