Unidentified Crayfish

[Dan.J]

Hi Guys

I was fishing today (yes it poured down with rain and I got soaked through)
and I caught a cray fish (fishermans pest - Unless you like eating them) which was nothing unusual, i often catch a lot of the American signal crayfish and throw them back. But.. this one was different, it had a single white marking on each claw and I think it was less red in colour compared to the usual suspects. My immediate thought was that I had been lucky enough to have found a white clawed crayfish but after getting home and looking at pictures on the internet I noticed that they don't actually have this white marking.
I am baffled! - and gutted seeing as I forgot my camera.

[Jenny W]

The White-clawed bit, I think, refers to the whiteish underparts of the claws - was it like this?

Signal's are tasty though!

[Dan.J]

I don't remember to be honest with you. I tend to try not to get too close to them after one squirted fluid in my eyes! Yuk.

[tom00_uk]

if you know what a American signal crayfish looks like then you should not throw it back, its an alien and such its release after capture is illegal. but if your not sure if its the native crayfish best put it back as they are also protected by laws