 United
States Department of Agriculture -
Forest Service |
 Southern Research Station200 W.T. Weaver Boulevard Asheville, NC 28804 |
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 Crayfishes of Mississippi poster |
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New Web Site and Poster Raise Awareness about Plight of Mississippi Crayfishes
- Resources Serve as Useful Management and Educational Tools
Asheville,NC -- The U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) today unveiled a new Web site, http://maps.fs.fed.us/crayfish/, and poster dedicated to Mississippi's crayfishes (also known as crawfish, crawdads, or mudbugs) in hopes of increasing public awareness about the decline of these ecologically important species. With more than 63 native species, Mississippi is a global hotspot for crayfishes. "The State of Mississippi has determined that nearly 30 percent of the state's crayfishes are in need of immediate conservation action or research," said Susie Adams, an SRS fisheries research scientist based in Oxford, MS, and coordinator of the Web site and poster. "My hope is that the Web site and poster will educate people of all ages about the significant roles that crayfishes play in the natural world, as well as promote conservation measures." Mississippi possesses one of the richest collections of crayfishes in the world. Seventeen of the state's crayfish species are found nowhere else, and at least 10 species have yet to be scientifically described and named. Crayfishes live in a wide range of habitats, including wetlands, lakes, streams, roadside ditches, and even relatively dry savannahs, lawns, and agricultural fields throughout the eastern United States. Some crayfishes live most of their lives in open water, while others live primarily in burrows as deep as 10 feet. A couple species are prized food items for many, especially in southern Louisiana. Crayfishes, which are crustaceans related to lobsters, shrimps, and crabs, also are used as fish bait and in laboratory studies. Crayfishes play an important ecological role by serving as food for numerous animals including sport fish like smallmouth bass and many mammals and birds. Additionally, crayfishes eat live and dead animal and plant material, which is important for recycling decaying matter in food webs. Unfortunately, many crayfishes have declined over the years because of habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species. The "Crayfishes of Mississippi" Web site, http://maps.fs.fed.us/crayfish/, serves as a useful resource for experts, science teachers and students, and others interested in learning more about crayfishes. Through the Web site, scientists, managers, and planners can obtain a username and password that allows them to obtain data records and map crayfishes site locations to assist with land management or planning decisions or research. Teachers and students will find the general information and distribution maps of crayfishes useful in developing curricula, conducting project research, or simply learning more about an ecologically important group. The maps are interactive and contain county-by-county lists of species. Users can access low- and high-resolution, colorful images of many of Mississippi's 63 crayfishes. Adams based the Web site on data from her own research as well as from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Science, and the Illinois Natural History Survey. The attractive poster features close-up photographs of more than 30 Mississippi crayfishes, as well as important information about the species. The poster also encourages readers to preserve crayfishes habitat and to only release crayfishes into the waters in which they were captured. The poster is available online at http://maps.fs.fed.us/crayfish/articles/crayfish-posterFINAL8_2008.jpg. The public can request free posters from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science using the following information: Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
2148 Riverside Drive
Jackson, Mississippi 39202-1353
Phone: 601-354-7303
Fax: 601-354-7227
www.msnaturalscience.org Susan Adams is a scientist with the SRS Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research unit. Editor's Note: The term "crayfishes" refers to multiple crayfish species. The plural of "crayfish" (more than one of the same species) is "crayfish."
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