One of our largest Conserve Wildlife license plate grants in 2023 went to one of Florida’s smallest animals! Our Foundation made a grant of $171,000 to protect Florida’s last-remaining populations of Black Creek crayfish (Procambarus pictus). The Black Creek crayfish are limited in Florida to a few tannin-stained streams in St. Johns, Duval, Clay, and Putnam counties.
Another species of crayfish not native to the area, the white-tubercled crayfish, is rapidly outcompeting its Black Creek cousin and may be spreading a disease. This grant allowed FWC biologists to erect barriers to prevent the invading crayfish from traveling upstream to the last Black Creek crayfish populations. Scientists are monitoring these barriers and may use them to create new refuges for the crayfish.
