An invasive Australian crustacean was found in these US waters. Is it harmful?

A new critter is creeping into the United States’ waters.

The invasive Australian redclaw crayfish was recently spotted in Southern Texas, roughly 8,000 miles away from its home. The freshwater crustacean is indigenous to the rivers of northern Australia and parts of Papua New Guinea.

Sightings of the species in the Rio Grande Valley have sparked fear among some Texas environmental officials, who say the crayfish could threaten local wildlife and wetland ecosystems.

Here’s what you need to know.

How did the Australian crayfish species arrive in Texas?

The first Australian redclaw crayfish was reported in the U.S. in 2013 by a user on the animal identification website iNaturalist, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. The sighting was of a female crayfish walking with her young at Lake Balboa in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Nearly a decade later, a second crayfish was spotted at an apartment complex pond in Texas in 2022. That sighting prompted an investigation from area officials. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Aquatic Biologist Dr. Archis Grubh ultimately found three other crayfish in the same area.

Now, Grubh and other researchers are investigating just how far the crayfish have spread throughout the Rio Grande Valley − but they don’t have a definite answer yet. Each female can lay up to 5,000 eggs annually, causing concern they could be breeding rapidly. However, area officials say they haven’t seen evidence of that.

Grubh told USA TODAY his team has laid traps with hot dogs in the freshwater ways around Brownsville, Texas, to try and catch the crayfish and figure out where they have traveled. The project is slated to conclude next year, but Grubh said researchers have found the crayfish “have not spread out much” in Southern Texas so far.

He and other officials haven’t confirmed how the species got to the U.S., but they believe it could be a result of an act called “aquarium dumping.”

Monica McGarrity, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s senior scientist for aquatic and invasive species, explained in a statement after the 2022 discoveries that “release of aquarium life” is “a key means by which invasive species such as these crayfish are introduced.”

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“Well-meaning, uninformed aquarium owners sometimes release their pets thinking they’re doing the best thing for them, but if they do survive, they can become invasive and harm the native aquatic species and ecosystem,” McGarrity said at the time.

Is the Australian crayfish harmful?

The Australian redclaw crayfish isn’t generally harmful to humans. It’s neither poisonous nor venomous, though it does have pincers it can use to defend itself if threatened.

Redclaw crayfish don’t stay out in the open. Primarily bottom dwellers, the species prefers to hide in crevices or under rocks and debris in the water. Humans looking to see them would need to actively search to come into close contact.

But scientists have warned that the species could be harmful to the ecosystems it invades. The animals can grow up to two pounds in less than a year. Their large size and rapid reproduction rate allow them to outcompete native species, potentially overtaking food sources and disrupting local ecosystems.

The Australian redclaw crayfish also can carry something called a crayfish plague – a parasite that could infect the area’s native crayfish species, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Can you eat Australian redclaw crayfish?

The Australian redclaw crayfish is essentially Australia’s version of a crawfish or crawdad. Crayfish, crawfish and crawdad are all the same animal, but they’re called different names in different regions.

The Australian redclaw crayfish are much larger than the species native to the U.S. They can grow close to 10 inches long, about the size of some lobsters. They are edible and are commonly farmed in Australia for commercial consumption.

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Similar to the crawfish found in Southeastern states, the meat is mild and sweet.

However, it’s unlikely that you’ll come across enough redclaws in Texas waters to make it worthwhile for consumption.

If you believe you see one, Texas Parks and Wildlife recommends reporting emailing a picture of the animal and its location to aquaticinvasives@tpwd.texas.gov.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Invasive Australian species found in US: Are the critters harmful?