CRayfish are an important part of the ecosystem of Florida, but they can be tricky to keep healthy.
The growth rate of a crayfishes digestive system is affected by the water temperature, the food the crayfin is eating, and the temperature of the ocean surface.
A study published in the journal Animal Behaviour found that a crays growth rate doubled between 2015 and 2020.
That’s when the crays water temperature rose by 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or roughly four degrees Celsius, which is the maximum temperature that can kill a crrayfish.
Scientists have already studied the impact of climate change on the craying and found that it has a significant impact on the amount of nutrients and energy that the crrayfishes eat.
“We have a huge ecosystem dependent on the growth of this very small crustacean,” Dr. John J. Rauch, the study’s lead author, told Mashable.
When cray fishes grow to their maximum size, the nutrients and water that they consume become less available and they die.
But it’s not just the amount that cray fish need that affects their growth rate.
Because the ocean is more acidic than normal, the amount and the type of food that crays eat can change their growth and survival rates.
The researchers say that changes to ocean conditions, such as rising temperatures, are expected to cause the rate of cray growth to accelerate in coming decades.
If that’s the case, we may not see the same amount of crays on the Florida coast that we have seen over the past several decades, according to Dr. Rausch.
As a result, it’s possible that the state could see more cray-fishes than normal by 2050, Rauchan said.