Common yabby

"Cherax destructor" redirects here. For the Australian music producer formerly known as Cherax Destructor, see marumaru.

Common yabby
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Parastacidae
Genus: Cherax
Species:
C. destructor
Binomial name
Cherax destructor
(Clark, 1936)

The common yabby (Cherax destructor) is an Australian freshwater crustacean in the Parastacidae family. It is listed as a vulnerable species[1] of crayfish by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), though the wild yabby populations remain strong, and have expanded into new habitats created by reservoirs and farm dams.[2][irrelevant citation][citation needed]

Other names frequently used for Cherax destructor include the blue yabby or cyan yabby. Its common name of "yabby" is also applied to many other Australian Cherax species of crustacean (as well as to marine ghost shrimp of the infraorder Thalassinidea).

Yabbies occasionally reach up to 30 cm (12 in) in length, but are more commonly 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long.[3]

Colour is highly variable and depends on water clarity and habitat; yabbies can range from black, blue-black, or dark brown in clear waters to light brown, green-brown, or beige in turbid waters.[4] Yabbies specifically bred to be a vibrant blue colour are now popular in the aquarium trade in Australia.

During a wet season, an Australian yabby can travel kilometres across land in search of new water in which to make its home.[5][citation needed]

The word "yabby" comes from the term for freshwater crayfish in several Aboriginal Australian languages that were spoken in what is now known as Victoria, including the Wemba Wemba language[6] and the Woiwurrung–Taungurung language.[7]

  1. ^ a b Crandall, K.A. (1996). "Cherax destructor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T4622A11042150. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T4622A11042150.en. Retrieved 5 May 2024. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1de v2.3).
  2. ^ "Yabby". Native Fish Australia. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. ^ Craig Williams. "Cherax destructor". Archived from the original on 1 December 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2006.
  4. ^ Chris Goerner. "Cherax destructor". Archived from the original on 29 April 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2006.
  5. ^ "Yabby".
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054.
  7. ^ Robinson, George Augustus; Clark, Ian (2014). The Travels of George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781499662078.