Texas Crawdads a Hit at 2008 Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo

The Texas Crawdads booth was a busy place the weekend of October 4th and 5th, 2008 at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departments annual Texas Wildlife and Outdoor Expo. State Park, NPS, state and national wildlife reserve personnel, and aquatic biology staff from both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and TPWD, and various non-profit conservation organizations stopped by to visit and learn about the more than 40 different crawfish species and varieties found in Texas. Many went away with copies of the new Texas Crawdads book, the first ever field guide to the Crayfishes of Texas.

“We are excited to have had an opportunity to make our publication available to the wildlife professionals who will be able to best make use of the book as a field identification reference for Texas crayfish and as a resource for the aquatic ecology educational programs they have developed around the state,” say Nathan Johnson, co-author of Texas Crawdads.

The Texas Crawdads specimen table, with live crawfish of the various species native to Texas on display, was crowded the entire two days. Many Texas youngsters bravely handled a live crayfish for the first time in their life, while their parents reminisced out loud about their own adventures as children hunting crawdads. “We always enjoy seeing the younger kid’s excitement about crawfish,” says Johnson, “but we were especially pleased with the numbers of university students who stopped by and expressed an interest in knowing more about Texas crayfishes and possibly making crayfish a topic of their university research.” Members of the Stephen F. Austin University student wildlife group staffing a nearby booth, conspicuous for their purple shirts, frequented the Texas Crawdads stall throughout the weekend.

If you are also a crawfish enthusiast, a biology educator, or work with wildlife conservation in Texas and are interested in knowing more about Texas crayfishes and you missed Texas Crawdads at the TPWD Expo this year, the authors will be signing copies of their new book at the grand opening of the Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas, Texas October 18 & 19 from 10-5. Or you may contact them directly through the contact info provided here.

Contact Information

Texas Crawdads

Field Guide to Texas Crayfish Species

Nathan Johnson

Contact via E-mail