Editing Crayfish (section)

== Terminology ==

The name "crayfish" comes from the [[Old French language|Old French]] word ''{{lang|fro|escrevisse}}'' ([[French language|Modern French]] ''{{lang|fr|écrevisse}}'').<ref name="OED">{{Cite OED|crayfish}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Wedgwood |first = Hensleigh |author-link = Hensleigh Wedgwood |title = On False Etymologies |journal = Transactions of the Philological Society |url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3924121;view=1up;seq=75 |year = 1855 |issue = 6 |pages = 65 }}</ref> The word has been modified to "crayfish" by association with "fish" ([[folk etymology]]).<ref name="OED"/> The largely [[American English|American]] variant "crawfish" is similarly derived.<ref name="OED"/>

Some kinds of crayfish are known locally as [[lobster]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |author = C. W. Hart Jr. |s2cid = 86017542 |year = 1994 |title = A dictionary of non-scientific names of freshwater crayfishes (Astacoidea and Parastacoidea), including other words and phrases incorporating crayfish names |journal = [[Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology]] |volume = 38 |issue = 38 |pages = 1–127 |doi = 10.5479/si.00810223.38.1 |hdl = 10088/1372 }}</ref> crawdads,<ref name="Bayou">{{cite web |title = Mudbug Madness : Crawfish |author = Pableaux Johnson |url = http://www.bayoudog.com/articles/kitchen_stories/mudbug_madness_crawfish.php |publisher = Bayou Dog |access-date = 28 August 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060819231829/http://www.bayoudog.com/articles/kitchen_stories/mudbug_madness_crawfish.php |archive-date = 19 August 2006 }}</ref> mudbugs,<ref name="Bayou"/> and [[Cherax|yabbies]]. In the [[Eastern United States]], "crayfish" is more common in the north, while "crawdad" is heard more in central and southwestern regions, and "crawfish" farther south, although considerable overlaps exist.<ref>{{cite web |author1 = Bert Vaux |author2 = Scott A. Golder |url = http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_66.html |title = Dialect survey |publisher = [[Harvard University]] |access-date = 30 September 2006 }}</ref>

The study of crayfish is called astacology.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://147.72.68.29/crayfish/IAA/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050405165844/http://147.72.68.29/crayfish/IAA/ |archive-date = 5 April 2005 |title = About the International Association of Astacology }}</ref>