Life Cycle of Yabbies

A yabby is a type of freshwater crayfish found in parts of Australia, including Victoria and New South Wales. Yabbies are able to live in harsh conditions for a number of years, and they are food to a number of animals and humans.

  1. Reproduction

    • Yabbies reproduce through sexual reproduction during the springtime, sometimes mating two to three times per season. Females carry between 100 and 1,000 eggs, covering them with their tails. It takes between 19 and 40 days for the eggs to hatch and the babies are released into the water.

    Growth

    • As they grow yabbies molt, meaning they lose a shell layer, every one to two days and then once a year as they age. They absorb water and use it to make space to grow after they lose their shell. Yabbies are cold-blooded animals, so they grow more quickly in warmer conditions. Some are fully grown, between 4.7 and 5.9 inches in length, in a year while others take up to two years to reach their full size.

    Survival

    • Yabbies are omnivores and generally eat a diet of rotting plants. They also feed on dead fish and will feed off from other yabbies to survive.

    Habitats

    • Yabbies can live in dense, harsh conditions in freshwater environments such as rivers, streams, lakes, marshes and dams. They are able to survive during droughts by burrowing into levee banks and dam wells. They do not need to be underwater, but their gills need to be wet so they can take in oxygen from the air.

    Death

    • A yabby can live between five and seven years, but in the wild they tend to have shorter life spans. They are at the bottom of the food chain, and their predators include eels, turtles, fish, platypus and birds.