Comparison of Juvenile Astacus leptodactylus Growth Raised in Cages in Rice Fields to other Crayfish Juvenile Growth Studies

The objective of this study was to determine whether the freshwater crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823) rearing can be economically achieved in the rice fields using meta-analysis. For this purpose, 100 juvenile freshwater crayfishes were settled in each of three cages in the rice field and the survival and growth characteristics of juvenile freshwater crayfishes in the rice fields were evaluated for 68 days. The meta-analysis was performed to the present study and nineteen studies where researchers evaluated the survival and growth characteristics of juvenile freshwater crayfish. As a result, initial average length and weight of the individuals were 11.08 +/- 0.097 mm and 0.04 +/- 0.003 g, respectively. They reached to a total of 37.46 +/- 0.872 mm length and an average of 1.46 +/- 0.095 g weight after 68 days. During this period, the survival rate of the juvenile individuals was also determined as 64.67%. The meta-analysis showed that growth in length at a significant rate on the contrary growth in weight. In conclusion, it is suggested that freshwater crayfish rearing in rice fields is a new and applicable alternative method for growth of freshwater crayfish in Turkey.