Bookend Trust
Dora the Central North burrowing crayfish faces slightly left of us. She is beside the edge of her burrow’s ‘chimney’, on numerous sticky mud balls that she excavated to create her burrow. She is mid-brown, around 10 cm long, and has two large claws with a granular surface, giving her her scientific name Engaeus granulatus. Photo: Clare Hawkins.
Photo: Clare Hawkins
Our projects

Claws on the Line

Claws on the Line is the Bookend Trust’s second NatureTrackers project: its aim is to monitor Tasmania’s burrowing crayfish with the help of schools and the community. We’re starting out by focussing on the endangered Central North burrowing crayfish, which is found nowhere else in the world except a small patch of northern Tasmania.

A small Central North burrowing crayfish walks along the fingers of a man’s hand. Photo: Clare Hawkins.
Photo: Clare Hawkins

View the results so far

Find out more…

Take part

Help map freshwater crayfish and their burrows: on the iNaturalist Claws on the Line project

Tell us where you’ve seen crayfish burrows, volunteer your help or perhaps invite a detailed survey in future by volunteers: through the Questionnaire

Central North schools

Interested in a school visit in September?

Subscribe to NatureTrackers, sign up to Expedition Class, and check our Events Calendar to get updates on visits and the art competition each spring.

You’re also welcome to contact us to let us know you’d like a school visit.

Central North burrowing crayfish ‘chimneys’—tall piles of sticky mud balls, in this case around 20 cm high, surrounding each burrow, in a grassy area with trees in the background. Photo: Clare Hawkins.
Photo: Clare Hawkins