There are many species of crayfish native to the region and this report does not include information on
all of them. Most of the aquacultural information in the North Central Region has been developed for
the orconectid crayfishes, certainly one of the dominant taxonomic groups. In the Southern portion of
the region, there is geographic overlap with several of the southern species, particularly the
procambarid crayfishes, which are the dominant culture species in the southern US. Our choice of
species in this document is a reflection of the research that has been conducted within our individual
programs. You will find a section at the end of each chapter that suggests needed research activities
for each species; those lists are typically long. Research on culture of native species is a new topic with
few published reports. Even with the sparse amount of information, we can conclude from this
synopsis that crayfish culture is feasible, but can be significantly improved by additional research
studies and extension activities.