WOONY NEWS
October/November 2012
Woony News is a bi-monthly newsletter produced by the Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC). It is geared towards helping students learn
about and have a better appreciation for their environment. It includes fun activities, interesting facts, educational stories and more. Students
can log onto www.narrabay.com to read Woony News, or sign up for a mailing list and receive a copy at home, by calling the NBC at
401-461-8848 x351. Students can also email Woony with their questions at [email protected].
LIKE TO READ? TRY ONE OF THESE
GREAT BOOKS!!
The Life Cycle of a Crayfish
- Bobbie Kalman
Critter Spotlight
Crayfish
- Phyllis W. Grimm
Crawdad Creek
- Scott Russell Sanders
Why the crawfish lives in the mud
- Johnette Downing
CRAYFISH QUIZ
Use the information from each article to
answer these true or false questions.
1. Crayfish molt when they are hungry.
True
or
False
2. Crayfish exoskeletons can change color.
True
or
False
3. Female crayfish can carry 100-150 eggs.
True
or
False
4. Crayfish are macro invertebrates.
True
or
False
5. Crayfish breathe using gills.
True
or
False
Crayfish are a species of freshwater crustacean. There
are over 330 different species of freshwater
crustacean living in North America.
Crayfish can live in a variety of freshwater habitats
including rivers, springs, ponds, lakes, marshes,
swamps, and even damp meadows. They tend to prefer
shallow water bodies with lots of places to hide.
Crayfish are omnivores, meaning that they eat both
plant and animal matter. Most will eat whatever is
available. Their primary source of food is decaying
plant matter because it is easily scraped up. Crayfish
will also consume live snails, insects, small fish, and
fish eggs.
Similar to fish, crayfish breathe dissolved oxygen using
gills. They move the gills back and forth in order to
filter in the dissolved oxygen.
Answers: 1. (False), 2. (True), 3. (True),
4. (True), 5. (True)
A Farewell to Fred
The NBC Woon Watershed Explorer’s (WWE) program lost one of its best educators this summer.
Fredriqua the crayfish passed away in August. Fredriqua or Fred as she was known by many students was
donated to the Woon Watershed Explorers Program by Washington Oak Elementary School in Coventry,
RI. There Fred educated a class of 23 students about crayfish behavior, molting, and even eggs. She was
carrying an egg sack with over 100 of them when she arrived at the school. Once in the care of NBC,
Fred visited schools every February as part of the NBC WWE program’s macro invertebrate lesson.
Fred lived a very long life. Although her actual birth date is unknown, Fred lived at least six years at NBC.
Most crayfish of Fred’s size only live 2-3 years. It did help that she lived alone and had someone
monitoring her environment so that she always had food and clean water. In the wild crayfish are very
susceptible to predators as well as water pollution.
One of Fred’s molts
from 2009.
One of the coolest features of a crayfish is its molt. Crayfish molt
their exoskeleton in order to make way for new growth. Molting
is a type of shedding. Other animals molt as well. Birds molt
feathers, snakes molt skin, and some animals molt hair. Due to the
high levels of protein that are found in a crayfish exoskeleton,
many crayfish will eat their own molt. Another neat fact about
crayfish is that over some time and several molts, a crayfish
exoskeleton may begin to take on the color of its environment. Since most crayfish live in freshwater
habitats which contain objects such as rocks, mud, leaf litter, sticks etc., they are usually brown in color
with hints of either reds or blacks. Fredriqua lived in an aquarium with blue rocks and over the course of
a few years, her exoskeleton became blue. Unlike a chameleon which can change color in about 20
seconds, crayfish can take many months or even years to adopt a new color.
The NBC will miss Fred. She educated thousands of students about the
importance of macro invertebrates in the environment. She also inspired
many students to complete research projects about crayfish, after visiting
their schools. For a tiny little creature, Fred had a very large voice.
FAREWELL FRED!