Crayfish
Posted by Hannah Bailey on September 19, 2005
Q: 1. What are the maxillipheds for?
2. Do they have ears?
3. Why are crayfish different colors?
A: Q: 1. What are the maxillipheds for? These are the second line of food-cutters after the claws. The claws can tear off rather large pieces of food at first and then that is passed to the 3 pairs of maxillipeds where food is torn or cut up into smaller pieces and then placed into the crayfish's mouth.
2. Do they have ears? Crayfish do not have ears and do not hear as we do. They do have eyes with reasonable eyesight plus antennae that help them interpret their environment.
3. Why are crayfish different colors? Although most do blend in to their surroundings with greens and browns, some crayfish can be rather colorful and stand out a bit more. Kep in mind too that there are many different kinds of crayfish. It's not really possible to answer "why" questions in biology but one can be sure that the colors that they have are favorable for their survival.
Hope these answers help. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( September 19, 2005)