skip to content
Government of Western Australia - Department of Fisheries

Freshwater crayfish health and disease

​One of the most common causes of disease and mortality in land-based aquaculture is problems with water quality. Water quality has a direct effect on the health of aquatic animals. Some of the key factors affecting water quality are temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, suspended solids, toxic waste levels such as ammonia and flow rates.

It is important that all aspects of water quality are monitored by the farmer, records kept on a daily basis and the factors associated with healthy water are adjusted if necessary to ensure they fall within acceptable ranges. Further information on water quality and disease.

Good water quality also means that your freshwater crayfish should be healthy and fetch the best prices. How live crayfish are handled to prepare them for the market is of utmost importance in ensuring their survival during transport.  Further information is available on preparing freshwater crayfish for market.

There are several diseases which affect freshwater crustaceans – for example Thelohania (usually marron and yabbies) and Epistylis and Temnocephla (usually yabbies).

Last modified: 25/07/2012 1:46 PM

wa.gov.au

© All contents copyright Government of Western Australia. All rights reserved. ABN: 18 951 343 745

Copyright

© This work is copyright. You may display, print or reproduce this material only in an unaltered format for your personal or non-commercial use, or for use within your organisation. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved.

Disclaimer

The information and advice provided by the Department of Fisheries website is made in good faith and is from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of release onto the website. Changes in circumstances after a document is placed on the website may affect the accuracy of the information. Full disclaimer details are available at www.fish.wa.gov.au.