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Australian red claw crayfish in Florida aquaponics

Cherax quadricarinatus

The Australian red claw is a big tropical crayfish that tolerates crowding, rarely burrows and can reach 2 to 4 ounces in one warm season. In Florida it is a restricted (conditional) species: only certified commercial farms holding an FDACS Restricted Species Authorization may raise it, in tanks inside an enclosed building, and FWC and FDACS do not allow it in backyard systems. In any tank, its talent for climbing out is the problem growers meet first.1, 5, 8, 10

Where in Florida it works8, 10

RegionReading
North Floridapoorly suited
Central Floridasuited with care
South Floridawell suited

Our reading, not a source statement, of SRAC 244's temperatures (death below 50 F, slow growth below 70 F, best at 75 to 85 F): North Florida's winter freezes rule out unheated culture; Central Florida's cold snaps mean winter heating; South Florida's tropical winters come closest to the red claw's range, though growth will slow in cool spells. Everywhere in Florida the law requires tanks inside an enclosed structure (BMP manual), so climate matters less than the building.

Our reading of the temperature facts below against UF/IFAS's three regions (North Florida north of State Road 40, Central between 40 and 70, South below 70). A tank with a heater, a greenhouse or a shaded sump changes the answer.

Temperature10

Optimal water temperature (°F)75 to 85
Growth slows or stops below (°F)70 (SRAC 244 says growth slows sharply below this; it gives no point where growth stops)
Lethal low (°F)50

SRAC 244: red claw grow at 70 to 90 F, grow best at 75 to 85 F, do not tolerate cold, and die in water below 50 F, which limits outdoor ponds in the Southeast to a 5- to 7-month season. Spawning needs water above 75 F; hatchery water is best at 80 to 85 F, and peak spawning was seen at 82 F with 14 hours of light. Southeastern growers move adults into heated indoor hatcheries for the winter.

Florida rules1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

FWC statusOn FWC's "Conditional Nonnative Species List" as "Cherax quadricarinatus (Australian red claw crayfish) (may be cultured in tank culture systems only)". FWC's "Prohibited Nonnative Species List" covers genus Cherax, all species except C. quadricarinatus "cultured in a closed tank system". Both pages show no revision date; read 2026-11-02. FDACS calls it a "restricted" species and says "Australian red claw is the only species of the genus Cherax available for culture in Florida" (FDACS-P-02060 Rev. 11/25).
Permit or certificateCommercial only. FWC's aquaponics page: "May be used in commercial systems if authorized by an Aquaculture Certificate of Registration and Restricted Species Authorization issued by FDACS". FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25 names "the red claw crayfish" among species "designated as restricted species, requiring a valid Aquaculture Certificate of Registration and a Restricted Species Authorization from the Division", and says of conditional species that neither FWC nor FDACS "will issue a permit to possess these species in backyard aquaponic systems." FWC's aquaponics page adds "Conditional species permits are not issued for personal use". FDACS restricted species authorizations "expire on June 30 of each year and must be renewed annually" (BMP manual FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023).
Selling fish or fingerlingsFDACS-P-02060 Rev. 11/25: "Live sale or transfer of restricted species and their hybrids is limited to those authorized by FDACS or FWC", with records of live purchases, sales and transfers kept for at least two years. FWC's aquaponics page says the Resident Fish Dealer license "does not allow for the sale of conditional species".
AlsoCulture "is limited to tank culture in an enclosed structure" and pond culture is prohibited (BMP manual; the FDACS Crustaceans page says "Red claw crawfish culture is limited to tank culture in an enclosed structure"). Systems must keep animals from escaping indoor systems or crawling out of tanks, and all water leaving the building must be treated so no life stage escapes. A farm whose certificate or restricted species authorization lapses must legally and humanely dispose of its restricted animals (BMP manual). UF/IFAS EDIS FA195 repeats the tank-only rule. FWC: "It's illegal to release any nonnative species in Florida."

Rules change and this is a summary; the agency page in the sources is the authority. Check it before you buy, breed or sell.

Growing10

Harvest size2 to 4 oz (50 to 100+ g) in a 5- to 7-month warm season; pond crops average about 2.5 oz, six to the pound
Months to harvestabout 6 from 1-gram juveniles in ponds, with partial trap harvests from 3 to 4 months
StockingSRAC 244, pond and hatchery figures: ponds 10,000 to 12,000 juveniles of 1 g or more per acre (0.25 to 0.3 per square foot), stocked once water stays above 68 F; broodstock tanks 1 to 3 animals per square foot of bottom, 1 to 3 females per male, with males within an ounce of each other in weight; nursery tanks no more than 25 juveniles per square foot. Adults show little cannibalism even above 50 per square yard, but juveniles are more aggressive. No aquaponics stocking figure was found.
FeedBroodstock: a complete sinking crayfish or shrimp feed of at least 28 percent protein at 3 percent of body weight a day, fed in the evening, since red claw are most active from 6 p.m. to midnight. Juveniles: a commercial shrimp diet above 33 percent protein at 40 percent of estimated biomass a day over three to five feedings, with brine shrimp helping in the first week; siphon out uneaten feed daily. Ponds: hay at about 500 lb per acre a month plus commercial feed at 3 percent of estimated biomass a day, not over 35 lb per acre a day (SRAC 244).
Water qualityHatchery targets (SRAC 244 Table 1): 80 to 85 F; dissolved oxygen 5.0 ppm or more; total ammonia 0.5 ppm or less; nitrite 0.3 ppm or less; pH 7.5 to 8.0; alkalinity above 100 ppm; total hardness above 50 ppm; chloride 50 ppm or more. Tolerance: adults survive dissolved oxygen down to about 1 ppm, pH 6.5 to 9, hardness and alkalinity 20 to 300 ppm, and short exposures to un-ionized ammonia up to 1.0 ppm and nitrite up to 0.5 ppm; young are more sensitive to low oxygen. In ponds keep dissolved oxygen above 3 ppm, measured near the bottom.

Red claw are excellent climbers and leave tanks when the water is near the rim or when air lines and heater cords hang over the edge; SRAC advises hanging equipment from above. Smooth tank walls and low light reduce shell damage and stress. Red claw can catch crawfish plague, a fungus carried by native North American crayfish that is most active below 65 F and not active above 70 F; there is no known prevention or treatment, and SRAC advises removing native crayfish from ponds before stocking red claw.

Breeding and stock6, 10

How it breedsRed claw mature at 6 to 12 months and 2 to 3 oz. Mature males have a red or orange patch on the outer edge of the claws; sex is best confirmed by the genital openings at the base of the walking legs. The male attaches a sperm packet to the female, who lays within about a day; each spawn is 100 to 1,000 eggs, about 7 hatching eggs per gram of female. Eggs take 4 to 6 weeks (about 30 days at 82 F, up to 45 days at 75 F), and the young cling to the mother for 7 to 10 days after hatching. Females can spawn 3 to 5 times a year while water stays above 75 F. Move egg-carrying females to separate hatching tanks, since crowded females may eat their young (SRAC 244).
Getting fingerlings or stockIn the Southeast, hatcheries spawn adults indoors in winter and stock juveniles of about 1 gram (1 to 2 inches) into ponds in spring. Juveniles collected from ponds on hanging mesh survive poorly (5 to 10 percent). In Florida, live purchase or transfer is limited to people authorized by FDACS or FWC (FDACS-P-02060 Rev. 11/25).

SRAC 244 (1997) says most juvenile red claw then produced in the Southeast were sold to the aquarium trade, prized for their light blue colour.

Florida sellers of fingerlings, breeders and stock

In an aquaponics system5, 10, 11, 12

suited with care

FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25 lists red claw crayfish among the animals commercial aquaponic systems commonly include. SRAC 244 describes holding broodstock in heated recirculating systems with particulate and biological filtration, and notes that red claw tolerate crowding; the care points are warm water and escape-proof tanks. SRAC 454 and SRAC 5007 do not mention red claw. In Florida only certified commercial operations with a Restricted Species Authorization may use it.

On the table10

About 30 percent of a red claw's body weight is edible tail meat, against 15 to 20 percent for native crayfish, and they can be sold live and whole without processing. SRAC 244 (1997) expected them to sell as "small lobsters" at 4 to 6 per pound but said the US market had yet to be developed.

What this page doesn't cover yet

  • The only culture source found is SRAC 244 (April 1997); no UF/IFAS EDIS fact sheet on red claw could be found. Its figures come from Alabama and Australian pond and hatchery work, not from Florida or from aquaponics.
  • No source gives a lethal high temperature.
  • The agencies word the containment condition three ways: FWC Conditional list 'may be cultured in tank culture systems only'; FWC Prohibited list 'cultured in a closed tank system'; FDACS BMP manual and Crustaceans page 'tank culture in an enclosed structure'. The BMP wording is the most specific.
  • SRAC 244 gives two hatchery juvenile survival figures: 50 to 75 percent at 25 per square foot, and an average of 50 to 70 percent.
  • SRAC 244 gives pond harvest size as about 2.5 oz, six to the pound, but expects marketing at 4 to 6 per pound.
  • SRAC 244 reports an Auburn study in which red claw did not survive an Alabama winter and concluded they could not become established in natural waters; that finding is from Alabama and the sheet does not address Florida's warmer south. Florida's agencies treat the species as restricted regardless.
  • FAO 'Small-scale aquaponic food production' could not be fetched (HTTP 403 on every FAO URL tried).

Sources

  1. Conditional Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  2. Prohibited Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  3. Aquaponics Licenses & Permits. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  4. Regulations for Nonnative Fish and Wildlife: Conditional and Prohibited Species. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  5. Commercial Aquaponics: Rules and Regulations. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25. Read 2026-11-02.
  6. Restricted Species Aquaculture: Rules and Regulations. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-P-02060 Rev. 11/25. Read 2026-11-02.
  7. Crustaceans. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture. Read 2026-11-02.
  8. Aquaculture Best Management Practices Manual (incorporated into Rule 5L-3.004, F.A.C.). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023. Read 2026-11-02.
  9. Preventing Escape of Non-Native Species from Aquaculture Facilities in Florida, Part 1: General Considerations and Regulations. UF/IFAS Extension, EDIS, FA195. Read 2026-11-02.
  10. Australian Red Claw Crayfish. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 244. Read 2026-11-02.
  11. Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 454. Read 2026-11-02.
  12. Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 5007. Read 2026-11-02.

Every fact above is restated in our own words from these documents, written 2026-11-02. Independent of the University of Florida and of every agency named.

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