The freshwater crayfish inhabits some rivers and lakes in Ireland. The only species known to inhabit Ireland is Astacus palipes. It looks like a lobster but is very much smaller, seldom more than 10 cm (4 ins.) in length. As a rule it hides by day and comes out to hunt at dusk. Apart from the fact that it feeds on various kinds of dead animal matter nothing is known about its feeding habits in Ireland. In other parts of Europe it eats water weed and many kinds of small creatures. The crayfish can be caught easily in special traps which resemble small lobster pots and are baited with raw meat. Boiled crayfish are excellent food but are rarely eaten in Ireland. In other countries, especially Sweden, they are regarded as luxury items and are sold at high prices. Crayfish caught in Ireland for export to Sweden should be worth about 5/- per pound to fishermen.