Cherax destructor destructor (Inland Yabby)
Species Account
A medium-sized, semi-aquatic subspecies found throughout the Murray-Darling and Lake Eyre drainage regions in inland Australia. Also translocated into several catchments draining eastward from the Great Dividing Range and to southwest Australia. Burrows near the waterline on the banks of rivers, creeks, gullies, bore drains and billabongs. Pale cream or grey (highly turbid water) to olive-green or dark blue, upper palm of cheliped marked with reticulated pattern. Length to 150 mm. The "Electric Blue Yabby", a bright blue phenotype linked to an autosomal recessive gene, is a popular aquarium subject. — John W. Short, 2026
Image
Specimen collected from Stony Creek near Woodford, southeast Queensland, Australia, John W. Short, 9 June 1998. Photographed by John W. Short.