Crayfish That Evade Big Bass-Amazing Underwater Escapes VIDEO

[WB Staff]

Crayfish That Evade Big Bass-Amazing Underwater Escapes



More Information about Bass and Crayfish:
The interaction between bass and crayfish is something I've been watching for a very long time and am just now beginning to understand. Typically, when people view the videos, they get the wrong impression of what's going on. Most people believe the crayfish is successfully repelling the attack of the hungry bass simply by it's posture and extending the claws out in a menacing fashion. What in fact is happening is the bass is choosing not to eat the crayfish. This decision is arrived at by a single factor that really has nothing to do with the crayfish or it's defensive posture.

Bass are initially attracted visually to the crayfish, and rush in close. The decision to attack is then based solely on the hardness of the shell or exoskeleton. This can certainly be determined once the crayfish is in the bass's mouth, causing the bass to immediately spit out the crayfish, if the crayfish is in it's "hard shell" state. But it seems that bass can also detect this without first mouthing the crayfish. At first I thought they were doing this by visually inspecting the crayfish, but now I also think they must be picking up a scent as well. Crayfish that have recently molted have soft shells and are much sought after by bass. When they're in this soft shell phase, after a recent molt, no amount of claw wagging, or any other defensive posturing is an effective defense.

When there are competing bass nearby, there's no time to evaluate whether the crayfish is soft or not. The main goal here is just to get to the food before your competitor. So in these cases, bass will more or less attack and "ask questions later". Once they have the prey in their mouths, safely secured from other bass, they will drop it if it turns out to have a hard shell.

So my point is this: Crayfish can't ward off attacks by sticking their claws out defensively when confronted by a bass. Bass laugh at this pathetic attempt.