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NEW SPECIES FOUND?! Rare Blue Crayfish! - YouTube
Channel: Brave Wilderness
[0]
- One, two, (grunts).
[3]
- [Mark] Oh man, the
water's seepin' in.
[6]
- Oh, I got one, I got one!
[8]
Holy mackerel!
[9]
There it is!
[10]
(adventure music)
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There's a famous song that goes
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"Country roads take me
home, to the place I belong,
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"West Virginia."
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and on this adventure
we will be following
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an old gravel country road
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that will hopefully
take us to the place
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that one very rare
creature calls home.
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This is West Virginia.
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First time I have ever
filmed in this state.
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Many creatures we
can come across.
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Now it's just a matter of
taking this gravel path
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further into the
wilderness and then
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we'll break trail
into the underbrush
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and see what we can find.
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Are you guys ready?
[58]
- [Mark] Let's do it!
[58]
- All right, let's go!
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Today we are working alongside
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Field Herpetologist Tim Brust,
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who has spent many
summers researching
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the various creatures
that call this
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wild and wonderful state home.
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And while he specializes
in reptiles and amphibians,
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today we are after one
incredibly elusive crustacean,
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that for now we will simply
call the blue crayfish.
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This is cool.
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We have a little
stream system that is
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moving right through the
middle of the forest.
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It's actually a
great place to look
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for small woodland
frogs and salamanders.
[95]
Look at this.
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Most of the time
you imagine crayfish
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living in streams and rivers.
[102]
However, the species we
are searching for today,
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is a variety of burrowing
crayfish that lives underground.
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They can be found in
areas known as seeps,
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which are defined as a wet place
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where ground water reaches
the earth's surface
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from an underground aquifer.
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Similar to the fully
aquatic crayfish species,
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the burrowing crayfish
also hides under rocks,
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so it was just a matter
of flipping the right one.
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So, Tim, this is what's
considered seepage.
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Here, Mark, take a look at this.
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See all this water?
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Here just in this low spot?
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- [Mark] Yeah.
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- This is actually seeping
out from the hillsides, right?
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- [Tim] Yep.
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- So, Tim tells me that
this rock right here
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is a great example of
something we should flip
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that may have a
crayfish underneath,
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and I can see this is all
real moist right here.
[149]
You see all this water?
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It looks like we're
just on leaves,
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but you peel the leaves
back, and you've got water.
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So, there could actually be
a crayfish under this rock.
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Oh, there's a lot
of water there.
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I guess I just put
my hand in there
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and see if there's
anything in it.
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Oh, there's definitely
a burrow right there.
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Oh, but no crayfish.
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All right, let's keep going.
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From rock to rock we searched,
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gently flipping each one,
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and placing it right back
in the exact same spot,
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so that we did not alter the
design of the environment.
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Oh, jeez!
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- [Mark] Woah what is that?
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- [Coyote] That's a
huge, slimy salamander!
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Oh, and it is slippery.
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Ooh, c'mere!
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- [Mark] Got it, got it?
[187]
- I got it! Yes!
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Wow, that is an enormous
slimy salamander!
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That's probably the biggest
one I have ever seen.
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Now, they're called
slimy salamanders because
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they excrete a slime
from their skin
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that's almost like a a slug,
it is very, very sticky.
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Let me turn you like this.
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Are you gonna stay up
on my fingers there?
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Wow!
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That is a giant salamander!
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Much bigger than the salamanders
that we catch in Ohio.
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Look at that cool patterning.
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Almost looks like the spots
of a spotted salamander.
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Now this is a lungless
salamander species,
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they actually breathe
through their skin.
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So, I don't wanna
handle it for too long,
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you can see I'm trying
not to actually handle it
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like grasp onto it,
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because I don't want to
take moisture from its skin.
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But, just handling it a tiny bit
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and my fingers are
extremely sticky.
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Now, one cool thing
about salamanders
[240]
is that they can actually,
well, most varieties,
[242]
can detach their tails.
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It's called caudal autonomy,
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the same thing that lizards
are capable of doing
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and that helps them
escape from predators,
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and then that tail
will rejuvenate itself.
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What a great find!
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It's not a blue crayfish but,
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still pretty cool to
get this salamander
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up close for the cameras.
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I'm gonna dip it in water,
place it back under the rock,
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and we'll keep
searchin', sound good?
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- [Mark] Great start!
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- All right, here we go!
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(lighthearted music)
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Here, come here
and check this out.
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Oh, come on!
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Oh, I got one!
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- [Mark] Do you?
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- I got one.
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Yes!
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But it's not blue.
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It's a crayfish
but its not blue.
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- [Mark] Okay let's squat
down and take a look.
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- Oh, he's rearin'
up with those claws!
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Look at that.
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Ah!
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Oh, man, every time!
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Yep, he's just holdin'
on with those pinchers,
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ooh, the next pincher's
about to pinch me too.
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All right, little buddy.
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I appreciate that.
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Can you uh, call ahead to some
of your cousins who are blue?
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That's what we're
really lookin' for.
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I knew I was gonna get pinched.
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Man, that is one cool
little crustacean though.
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A little fossorial crayfish.
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All right, back under the
rock with this crayfish.
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We're gonna continue searching.
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You can flip rocks for hours
and come across nothing.
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But that's what makes it fun,
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because there's always
going to be another rock,
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and all it takes is
flipping the right rock
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to uncover a jewel
of the wilderness.
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I'm telling you guys,
you are not gonna believe
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how blue this little animal
is until you actually see it.
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Actually this rock right here,
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before we walk past
it, looks perfect.
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- [Tim] That's a huge rock.
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- [Mark] I think you can
do it, Muscles, come on!
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- Oh, man.
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I don't think can do this.
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- [Mark] You've been
hittin' the gym.
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- I don't think I
can lift that one.
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- [Mark] That's a two-hander.
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- That's a weird beetle.
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Let me just see it and
see if its possible.
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- [Mark] Oh yeah.
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- Yeah, that's
gonna be a whopper.
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- [Mark] Do it!
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- That's a big rock right there!
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All right here we go, I'm
gonna lift it, you ready?
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One, two, three. (grunts)
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Oh, I got one, I got one!
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Holy mackerel!
[369]
There it is!
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- [Mark] Woah!
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- That is a blue crayfish!
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- [Mark] I told you it would
it would get better rock.
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- Heavy rock, and it paid
off with a blue crayfish.
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Look at that thing!
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Okay, I'm gonna leave this
rock positioned just like this.
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- [Mark] Okay let's
come over here.
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- Let's back up to the trail.
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Wow!
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- [Mark] Yeah, this
is good, this is good.
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- Look at that!
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Can you believe how
blue that crayfish is?
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Hold on. I'm gonna
turn it like this
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and kinda hold it by its tail.
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There it is, the sapphire of
the West Virginia hillsides.
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It is so blue, I
can't believe it.
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It is as blue as the sky is.
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Look at that crustacean.
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That must be the coolest looking
crayfish I have ever seen.
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Now, this is a species
that is subterranean.
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Which means that they have
burrows that can go down
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as deep as eight feet
under the ground,
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and they will come up into
those little pools of water
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underneath the rocks
to search for food.
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These crayfish do not
grow to be very large.
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This is about average
size and it is a female,
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and the way that I can tell that
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is by looking at its underside.
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It does not have these
little kind of grappling legs
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underneath there where,
if it was a male,
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would be used to
grasp on to a female,
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and I can also tell that this
one has a regenerated claw.
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If you didn't know
this, most crustaceans,
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especially crayfish are
capable of losing claws
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and then they regenerate them.
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So, this claw right here
is a little bit smaller
[450]
than that claw,
so at some point,
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a predator likely
tried to eat it,
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it dropped its claw and
then it managed to escape,
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and now that claw
is growing back.
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- [Mark] So I heard
that these crayfish,
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they can actually
drown in water.
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So if you found one of these,
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you wouldn't wanna
release it in the stream.
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- No, they go in water,
their burrows oftentimes
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are filled with water,
but they have to keep
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coming to the
surface to breathe.
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Now, they do have gills,
just like aquatic crayfish
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but those gills allow
them to breathe air,
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so you may be
wondering to yourself,
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"Coyote, don't you
need to put this thing
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"back into the water?
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"Is it gonna suffocate by
being out in the open air?"
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No, not at all.
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This crayfish is
breathing right now.
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- [Mark] So, Coyote, we
actually need to get some data
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while we're out here, correct?
[488]
- That's right.
[490]
It is possible that this
is a new sub-species
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of this crayfish.
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There are two recognized
species and it is possible
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that this one could be a third.
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So what we're gonna do is take
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some really detailed
photographs,
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and mark the GPS coordinates,
and you never know,
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this may be a completely
newly discovered crayfish.
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How cool would that be?
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- That would be awesome.
[510]
Do you think they'll
let us name it?
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- Ooh, maybe, and if
we were able to name it
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I would call it the
sapphire crayfish
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because in my opinion,
this is a lost jewel
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here in the hillsides
of West Virginia.
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Coyote Pack, what
do you guys think?
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The sapphire crayfish?
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I like it.
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Well I would say it was a
pretty epic adventure today.
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We flipped over many rocks.
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We found salamanders.
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We found a brown crayfish,
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and then of course the
last, largest rock,
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revealed to us this
little blue beauty.
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I'm Coyote Peterson,
be brave, stay wild,
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we'll see you on
the next adventure.
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The blue crayfish is one of
the most uniquely colored
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animals we have
ever come across.
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Its elusive nature and
subterranean dwelling
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made it difficult to find.
[560]
But in the end, the long
search was completely worth it.
[565]
As of the release
of this episode,
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this sub-species of
crayfish has officially
[569]
been classified as
a new discovery,
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and is in the process of
being described by scientists.
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And, when it comes
to the common name
[578]
officially becoming
the sapphire crayfish,
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well, that's still
up for debate,
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and we are told there's a
chance it may actually happen.
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So, I'll continue to
keep my fingers crossed.
[591]
If you thought a brilliant
blue crayfish was incredible,
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make sure to go back
and check out another
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brightly colored creature
[597]
of the West Virginia
mountainsides,
[599]
the cave salamander.
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And don't forget, subscribe,
[603]
so you can join me and the crew
[604]
on this season of
Breaking Trail.
[607]
Woo!
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