Strange Claw

Half-cocked

I found a strange claw on a riverbank in Kildare (the Greese River, a tributary of the Barrow) see pic below. I believe it might be a crayfish claw but it is far to big and also the wrong shape to be from our native crayfish. Does anyone know if we have an introduced species of crayfish like in the UK, or is it from something else? I heard somewhere we have an alien freshwater crab turning up. There is of course the possibility it was dropped by a scavenger after being taken from a bin (unlikely I know, but not impossible).

recedite

Intriguing. Kildare being inland,how far is it from the sea approx?

Angus Og

Compare the claw to this one:

http://www.castlebar.ie/artman2/uploads/1/crayfish_4.jpg

I thought they looked similar, though obviously from different angles.

From this:

http://www.castlebar.ie/environment/Crayfish_-_Protected_Species.shtml

recedite

There are Chinese mitten crabs in the Barrow (since 2005) but there should be a white claw protruding from a "mitten".
The American signal crayfish that they have in the UK is another possibility but their claw is smoother.

It looks most like a claw off our white clawed crayfish
http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/img/species/fish/446x251/crayfish.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/species/fish/crayfish.shtml&h=251&w=446&sz=29&tbnid=5XGQ6IYLPWXP9M:&tbnh=71&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWhite%2BClawed%2BCrayfish&usg=__CfGy5aNNU5ZmO0t6gVhhRHF-qo8=&sa=X&ei=Vn4mTNnnGJSi0gS_iZHKBA&ved=0CBsQ9QEwAg
but they are only supposed to grow to 12 cm.

However, lobsters apparently keep growing for as long as they live
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/marine-life/400-pound-lobster.htm
Maybe your one is a really old record breaking native monster ?

Dusty87

recedite wrote: »

There are Chinese mitten crabs in the Barrow (since 2005) but there should be a white claw protruding from a "mitten".
The American signal crayfish that they have in the UK is another possibility but their claw is smoother.

It looks most like a claw off our white clawed crayfish
http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/img/species/fish/446x251/crayfish.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/species/fish/crayfish.shtml&h=251&w=446&sz=29&tbnid=5XGQ6IYLPWXP9M:&tbnh=71&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWhite%2BClawed%2BCrayfish&usg=__CfGy5aNNU5ZmO0t6gVhhRHF-qo8=&sa=X&ei=Vn4mTNnnGJSi0gS_iZHKBA&ved=0CBsQ9QEwAg
but they are only supposed to grow to 12 cm.

However, lobsters apparently keep growing for as long as they live
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/marine-life/400-pound-lobster.htm
Maybe your one is a really old record breaking native monster ?

Edit, sorry just relised i had nothing to add :S

Half-cocked

Thanks everyone. Looks like it is (was) a particularly big native crayfish. I've sent the pic off to Invasive Species Ireland just to make sure it's not an unwelcome visitor.