Swamp yabby, Australia's newest freshwater crayfish, named
Scientists have found the swamp yabby, a new species of yabby living in the Murray River catchmentAustralia has a new species of yabby. Officially known as the “swamp yabby”, or Cherax latimanus if you go by its scientific name, it’s found along the mid-Murray River region dividing NSW from Victoria.
The new species of what is by all measures a freshwater crayfish was announced to the world's scientific community late last month.
It is only the third naturally occurring yabby species found in the area that centres on the Barmah wetlands. From what we can tell, it differs from other species by having a pair of prominent spines on its claws and only has a single spine on its head – as well as other small details.
However, before you grab the drop net and start heading for the mighty Murray to snare one, it doesn’t actually live in the river, including the steams and billabongs that make up its waterway.
Instead, the swamp yabby is a ground-dwelling species, living in a network of burrows in places that regularly flood with water, such as drainage lines, roadside drains, depressions, swamps and cleared areas of pasture in lowland to foothill areas.
If the swamp yabby is ever found in open water, scientists say it’s usually because the area in which they normally live is flooded.
According to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, it’s the first time in 80 years a new yabby species has been found in the Murray Darling Basin.
The new yabby was formally described and by scientists at the Victorian government-backed Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research and environmental survey specialists at Australian Aquatic Biological.
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