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A female crayfish carries her eggs under her tail.
How Do Crayfish Raise Offspring?
Crayfish start life as an egg. After a male and female crayfish mate, the
female lays eggs. However, she doesn’t lay them in a nest or under a plant
or rock. She carries them under her tail. The long, featherlike swimmerets
hold the eggs and fan water around them. She can have 100 eggs or more
under her tail.
The eggs start to hatch in 4 to 6 weeks. The babies are only as long
as the letter
L
on this page. And they are hard to see because they are
transparent. After they hatch, the babies stay under their mother’s
tail for protection. In a few days, they start to walk around on the gravel.
But if they are startled, they scoot back under their mother’s tail as quick
as a flash.
When the baby crayfish are about 2 weeks old, they leave the protection
of their mother’s tail. They are ready to start life on their own. When the
offspring are 4 to 6 months old, they can mate and produce offspring.
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