Perform Your Own Crawfish Dissection!

 

Get To Know The Crawfish!

These arthropods are an iconic species and food source in Southeastern Louisiana. We know “pinch the tail” and “suck the head”, but there is more to crawfish than just a boil! In this activity you will create your own crawfish with clay or playdoh and follow along with Dr. Liz!

 

Duration:

21 minutes, 33 seconds

Dr. Liz explains the external and internal anatomy of a crawfish – and just what you’re eating when you “suck the head”!

 

Materials Needed:	Activity Focus:
Clay or Playdough Scissors Butter knife	Observational skills and crawfish anatomy Best to do with the video

 

Crawfish are a type of Arthropod!

photo courtesy of Liz Marchio

 

Illustration of a crawfish

photo courtesy of  LSU AgCenter

Instructions:

1. Create a crawfish with your clay or playdough. Use the image on the right to create the shape.

2. With help from Dr. Liz, label the anatomy of the crawfish. You can also learn what all of the body parts do.

Walking legs used to move and pick up food
Claws or Cheliped used to burrow and keep food from moving

The exoskeleton is the hard crustacean

Abdomen or “tail” used to promptly move backward while swimming

The cephalothorax is the head and thorax

Antennae are sensory organs used for feeling and tasting

Swimming legs or swimmerets used to help swim.

3. Now that you know the body parts, use your scissors or knife to cut on the posterior side.

4. Now that you have your clay crawfish cut open, can you create the internal system?

The nervous system is what senses their surroundings and reacts to the changing environment.

• Nerves
• Brain

Circulatory System is the system that carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to cells, and removes waste products, like carbon dioxide.

• Open versus Closed Circulatory Systems
• Gills
• Green Gland or “kidney”

Digestive System is what processes food by extracting nutrients and excreting excess.

• Stomach, Teeth, Intestine
• Digestive Gland
• Anus

 

Crawfish come in many sizes!

photo courtesy of Liz Marchio