Editing Crayfish (section)

=== Pets ===

Crayfish are kept as pets in freshwater aquariums. They prefer foods like shrimp pellets or various vegetables, but will also eat tropical fish food, regular fish food, algae wafers, and small fish that can be captured with their claws. A report by the [[National Park Service]]<ref name="abebault">{{cite web |author = abebault |website = Google |url = https://www.nps.gov/laro/learn/education/upload/Crayfish-facts.docx |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170216180121/https://www.nps.gov/laro/learn/education/upload/Crayfish-facts.docx |url-status = dead |archive-date = 16 February 2017 |title = Crayfish Facts |date = May 2013 |access-date = 27 July 2018 }}</ref> as well as video and anecdotal reports by aquarium owners<ref name="YouTube 2018">{{cite web |title = YouTube |website = YouTube |date = 12 April 2018 |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kliDZyD5KnU |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/kliDZyD5KnU |archive-date = 30 October 2021 |access-date = 27 July 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> indicate that crayfish will eat their moulted exoskeleton "to recover the calcium and phosphates contained in it."<ref name="abebault"/>  As omnivores, crayfish will eat almost anything; therefore, they may explore the edibility of aquarium plants in a fish tank. However, most species of dwarf crayfish, such as ''[[Cambarellus patzcuarensis]]'', will not destructively dig or eat live aquarium plants.<ref name = petshrimp>{{cite web |author = Gerald Pottern |title = Mexican dwarf orange crayfish, ''Cambarellus patzcuarensis'' |url = http://www.petshrimp.com/articles/cpatzcuarensis.php |access-date = 13 October 2010 |archive-date = 28 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180728223247/http://www.petshrimp.com/articles/cpatzcuarensis.php |url-status = dead }}</ref>

In some nations, such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[United States]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]], imported alien crayfish are a danger to local rivers. The three most widespread American species invasive in Europe are ''[[Faxonius limosus]]'', ''[[Pacifastacus leniusculus]]'' and ''[[Procambarus clarkii]]''.<ref name="lee-james">{{cite web |author = James R. Lee |title = TED Case Studies Crayfish Plague #478 European Crayfish Dispute |date = 5 December 1998 |url = http://www.american.edu/TED/crayfish.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090110015542/http://www.american.edu/TED/crayfish.htm |archive-date = 10 January 2009 |access-date = 20 January 2008 }}</ref> Crayfish may spread into different bodies of water because specimens captured for pets in one river are often released into a different catchment. There is a potential for ecological damage when crayfish are introduced into non-native bodies of water: e.g., [[crayfish plague]] in Europe, or the introduction of the common yabby (''Cherax destructor'') into drainages east of the Great Dividing Range in Australia.<ref name=auzoo>{{cite journal |author1 = Coughran, J |author2 = Mccormack, R |author3 = Daly, G |title = Translocation of the Yabby ''Cherax destructor'' into eastern drainages of New South Wales, Australia |journal = Australian Zoologist |volume = 35 |year = 2009 |pages = 100–103 |doi = 10.7882/AZ.2009.009 |url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271520252 |access-date = 10 May 2018 }}</ref>