Were there crayfish in ancient China?

Strictly speaking, there were crayfish in ancient China, because there are actually four kinds of authentic crayfish in China, namely Northeast Black Crayfish, Nanjing Black Crayfish, Procambarus schrenckii and Korean Black Crayfish.

But at present, crayfish eaten in China are not the above four kinds, but Procambarus clarkii, which is a real alien invasive species. So from this perspective, there were no crayfish in ancient China.

The crayfish we are talking about now mainly refers to a kind of freshwater shrimp eaten in China at present, which is actually Procambarus clarkii. This freshwater crayfish is a veritable alien species, which was not introduced to China until 1930s. At first, it was not for human consumption, but as the feed for bullfrogs. The eating method and scientific research of crayfish didn't begin until 1960s. It was in 1983 that Mr. Dai Aiyun, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, first advocated the development and utilization of freshwater crayfish as aquatic resources. At the same time, the School of Fisheries of Huazhong Agricultural University and Hubei Institute of Fisheries Science in China began to develop Procambarus clarkii. And this is the crayfish that we eat in large quantities at present.

The course of crayfish entering China in modern times is also quite tortuous and interesting. Crayfish is native to the southeastern United States, so it is also called American crayfish. Its origin is in the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico, so it is also called Louisiana crayfish. 19 18 was introduced to Japan as bait for raising bullfrogs, and was introduced to China from Japan during the war of aggression against China. Eventually, it will become a widely distributed freshwater shrimp resource in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China and become a delicious table for Chinese people.