Biologists battle over North America's largest crayfish
When Caitlin Bloomer wrestled the massive Crawzilla crawdad—yes, that's its actual common name—out of the muck during a biological survey in Kentucky, she was convinced it was the largest crayfish ever recorded.
When a biological survey in Kentucky led to the capture of a massive crayfish commonly known as Crawzilla, biologist Caitlin Bloomer was certain it was the largest crayfish ever recorded. She brought the crayfish back to her campus to show her colleague, who initially believed her claim was impossible. Bloomer's colleague soon conceded that he had indeed caught larger crayfish, sparking a friendly competition between colleagues.
Bloomer enlisted biologists and museum curators nationwide to gather their largest specimens for comparison. Using calipers, the group identified 20 individuals across 18 species larger than the rest, which they published in Ecology. The Tennessee bottlebrush crayfish, held by West Liberty University in West Virginia, was found to have the largest recorded carapace measuring 86.6 mm, making it the true winner.
The case of the largest crayfish highlights the importance of museum collections for scientific discovery and suggests that physiological limits may govern body size in North American crayfish.
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