Friends!

I have new friends!

^_^

Kiss kiss

Fishy kiss, anyone? 

Tweedle & Sales

Well, a big batch of my babies are on their way to WA. Someone bought 10+ of them, woo. I hope they have a nice home and life there. ^_^

And then Tweedle (P. acutus male) molted last night. He didn't get any bigger, so I think he was just switching forms because now there's a female on the other side of the divider in his tank. My female P. clarkii who I'm hoping will berry soon from her encounter with my male P. clarkii. So, Tweedle's on his own for now. After I get a brood from her, if they want to go at it they can. Though, I doubt that hybrid will be interesting... they're both so similar in appearance. *shrugs*

Moltings

One of my crayfish molting, picture by picture:

Early Happy V-Day

Baby Update

Not a Marmorkreb!

NOT EVERYTHING WITH MOTTLING IS A MARMORKREB!

Procambarus fallax is not a Marmorkreb! Procambarus alleni (regular coloring) is not a Marmorkreb! Orconectes lancifer is not a Marmorkreb! Procambarus enoplosternum is not a Marmorkreb! Cambarellus shufeldtii is not a Marmorkreb! Cambarellus montezumae is not a Marmorkreb!

Do we see the reoccurring theme here? Not everything that has spots and mottling is a Marmorkreb. And yet, anytime someone posts a picture of a crayfish with spots or mottling on a forum there's a wave of people jumping on to say it's a Marmorkreb or try and correct an ID saying that what it was bought as is incorrect. And yet none of these people catch, collect, study or keep any species of crayfish. (Granted on AC and MFK, there's a few members from CM and BC that can ID but they're rarely involved in the threads, unfortunately.) Not everything is a damn Marmorkreb, you know? 

There are hundreds of mottled species of crayfish, and Marmorkrebs have very distinct patterns that are only matched in similarity by a few other crayfish species. No one takes notice of this though. It's like when I posted up pictures of my Orconectes lancifer and people tried to correct me and say I had a Marmorkreb. No, I don't. The patterning differences aside, the claw structure is different, the rostrum is different, the cervical groove is different and so forth. If you can't look at these features and tell the difference in the species, don't ID! It's why I don't ID crayfish outside a handful of species that I've studied in detail. I make suggestions, but say just that, they are suggestions or potential ideas. And then I refer people to CM, BC or individual people that I know can ID correctly. 

People just annoy me lately, it's just like when a blue crayfish shows up... OMG, it's blue! It must be a Procambarus alleni! Or a red crayfish, it totally has to be a Procambarus clarkii! And look a brown crayfish! That has to be a Procambarus acutus! Because no other species of crayfish possess those colorations outside those species!  *facepalm* 

On the bright side, none of this is as irritating as the every present statement of "A crayfish will catch and kill anything it can catch in it's claws!", which is spouted from the mouth of almost every person in aquaria forums (most of which have never kept crayfish). Which is blatantly not true. I mean, there are plenty of aggressive species and species that show more preference towards meat matter over vegetable. And then that statement holds true. But there are plenty of other species that aren't aggressive (some are downright passive) and/or prefer vegetable matter over meat. These don't often cause issues unless they're not being fed enough or properly or they're being harassed by something. 

I mean, wouldn't a better statement be "A crayfish has claws that can inflict real damage. If you have an aggressive or more carnivorous species, these claws will likely catch and injury/kill tankmates. Whereas a more passive or less carnivorous species will be more likely to only use them as defense when harassed. So, until you know your crayfish's species overall temperament and needs, and subsequently the individual's temperament, it should be housed separately to avoid any issues." Or you know, something like that. But then again, I've actually had people bitch about that... saying it requires too much research or work to do so. Well, like any other animal... DON'T BUY IT until you've researched its specifics and set up a proper home for it. Oy!

Sorry for the rant. I'm just a little irritated lately, it'll pass.

Procambarus clarkii clones!

So, a few weeks ago I got wind of various "rumors" being spread out amongst the various forums I'm a member of, that Procambarus clarkii was recently discovered to have had the ability to reproduce asexually (like that of a Marmorkreb).

Now, in none of these places did anyone provide references or articles to back up the statement, so it was largely brushed off as someone having obtained a female that had a stored sperm plug from a prior encounter with a male. Thus, allowing her to berry and produce offspring without the presence of a male around (this happens a lot, and you'll see many threads on forums about it).

Anyway, in the course of a series of correspondence between myself and Dr. Zen Faulkes, this mentioning came up again. And he very nicely clarified a few things for me, namely that this rumor is in fact true. Genetically identical Procambarus clarkii have been found. How cool is that? A previously well-studied and commonly used test animal that was thought to only be able to reproduce sexually can in fact clone itself!

If you'd like more information on this, check out Zen's site (the first source link) or the original researchers' published findings (the second source link)!

Sources:

marmorkrebs.blogspot.com/2008/12/procambarus-clarkii-clones.html

biolsci.org/v04p0279.htm

Odd Friends and Odd Temperaments

So, today is just a day of "odd":

1.) My male (orange morph) Procambarus clarkii has suddenly become highly aggressive. Every time I come anywhere near his tank, he'll come out of whatever hiding spot and charge up to the glass. He'll wave his claws up in the air and posture aggressively, and if I keep approaching he'll smack his claws against the glass. I miss his little "food dance" when I used to come by his tank and when he didn't feel the need to try and pinch me when I needed to collect him. Grr. I wonder if it has to do with the mating, since he was his normal passive self before then. Hmm. 

2.) My Polypterus has made an odd friend. Aside from the Hoplo it follows around, it now sleeps nestled under my most aggressive crayfish, Nippy (P. alleni male). Nippy was originally on one side of the divider and my Poly on the other with the Hoplo, but both found ways to repeatedly get to the other side. So, the divider is now gone. Anyway, Nippy is known for chasing down and trying to eat ANYTHING that enters his water, and yet, this Poly can nestle up under him, swim through his claws, swim under or on top of him and nothing happens. He just rearranges his claws in a crossed position on top of the sleeping Poly. Very strange. Now, this isn't going to last much longer, as I don't trust Nippy for anything, but until I move the Poly in a few days, this is their odd arrangement and behavior. 

That aside, I picked up a bunch of Mollies and Platys from someone local on Aquariacentral.com today. I'm going to use them to breed feeders for my crayfish and Poly to eat. Real nice lady and real awesome fish. I almost feel bad about using them as feeders (especially the black and white spotted onces) because they're so cute. But I got enough of them that hopefully they'll breed quick enough to not disappear in entirety. 

Getting Jiggy

Well, I didn't think they were old enough to be sexually mature yet... Guess I was wrong.

My two orange morph Procambarus clarkii from my crayfish-buddy Chrissy (on bluecrayfish.com) have been mating. I'm not particularly happy about this, since they're siblings and I don't really believe in the selective breeding through inbreeding that a lot of keepers and breeders do. But I hadn't thought they'd be old enough to mate yet (I didn't even think the white morph male who I wanted to use for breeding with the orange morph female was old enough, and he's massive compared to this male). 

At least on the bright side, anomalies and defects from inbreeding don't usually show up in the first generation of inbreeding (at least, from what I've observed in other keeper's and breeder's crayfish). So, hopefully the offspring that result from this encounter will be all right for the most part. 

Makes me wonder if coloration plays a part in breeding though. I had all three crayfish together in one tank to grow out before I separated them and placed them with larger crayfish. But before the white morph male's last molt, he was the same size as the orange morph male now. And if he's not in Form I now, then he was before the last molt. So, why wasn't he interested in the female? And she hasn't molted in a while, so I don't think it's that she was old enough or not sexually mature. Hmm, whatever I guess.

Can't wait to have little orange baby crayfish crawling around the tank!

Worms!

This is my largest male Procambarus clarkii (white morph), enjoying a lovely snack of Blackworms:

He really, really likes them, eh? ^_^

A First Taste

So, my little hybrid babies got their first taste of live food today!

I went over to Absolutely Fish to pick up some Anacharis for all of my tanks, and I decided I'd pick up some Blackworms as well. (I also picked up a Polypterus delhezi, but that's beside the point.) So, when I got home I added the plants to all the tanks, and then went about dropping a few small portions of Blackworms into the various hybrid tanks. Man, as soon as those worms hit the top of the water the babies came out from every possible hiding spot. And some of them were "jumping up" trying to snag the worms as they floated to the bottom of the tanks. All the worms that were added to the tanks were gone in a few minutes, it was hilarious. All these little tiny juveniles wrestling with these worms, it's really rather cute. Anyway, now I have little hybrids munching down the Anacharis I added, so we'll see how long that lasts until there's nothing left but shreds. 

I'm glad to see they're taking to a variety of food, including live food. Some species of crayfish won't accept live food or certain plants, and some won't once they've gotten a taste of prepared foods (pellets, veggies, meat scraps, etc). Those are called "Pain In The Ass" crayfish, which getting threatened with a boiling pot quite often. 

Here's one tank of juveniles that are sniffing around for any remaining worms hiding amongst the plants and gravel. Hungry, hungry crayfish!

Information on the Crayfish Girl

Name: Lee

DOB: April 16, 1986

Career: Graphic Designer (more commonly known as "the starving artist")

Why Crayfish?: Well, when I was younger my favorite animal was the lobster. I loved lobsters, especially the ones in the supermarkets (but I believe that was more from my great aunt buying them for me to "free them"). Anyway, as I grew older I pretty much resided in the fact that I was never going to own a lobster and slowly forgot about them. Then, the man I love the most, introduced me to some crayfish he had recently caught and I fell in love with these "mini-lobsters". And that started my horrible obsession... as I know have tanks and tanks of many different species of crayfish that I breed and raise. ...but all of that aside, c'mon! Crayfish are just the cutest little critters, you have to love them!

How Do You Get Your Crayfish?: I get my crayfish a variety of ways. I often catch wild crayfish locally during the warmer months, though NJ doesn't have a particularly impressive list of species to find. I buy my crayfish from local fish stores and hobbyists/breeders. I often buy crayfish online from websites or fellow hobbyists/breeders. And now that I've gotten a fairly large collection of breeding species, I often trade crayfish with my crayfish friends around the world. 

You Keep Crayfish, You Must Be Weird (in personality, appearance, etc)?: You're damn right I'm weird. I strive hard to be weird, I always have. Whether it's from my dark, sarcastic humor or my often oddly colored dyed hair. Be it from my strange taste in clothing or my odd placement of piercings and jewelry. Hell, I'm weird because I'm a female that's addicted to World of Warcraft (I'm a lvl 65 Tauren Hunter, haha) and who actually enjoys watching porn. I even love horror movies, the scarier they are, they better they are! I. Am. Weird. 

But keeping crayfish isn't what makes me weird. A lot of people keep crayfish, actually, a lot more than you'd think. Don't believe me? Hop on over to Crayfishmates.com, Bluecrayfish.com, Monsterfishkeepers.com or Aquariacentral.com. There's a lot of us... We're everywhere! *insert evil laughter here*

And if you do hop on over to any of those sites, please feel free to look me up:

Crayfishmates - Black Sun

Bluecrayfish- Rojito

Aquariacentral- Black Sun

Monsterfishkeepers- Black Sun

A Parting Picture: Here's a parting picture, just so you know who it is that's writing this lovely little blog, heh.

The Crayfish Blog

While I have my crayfish forum (http://thecrayfish.forumotion.net), I thought it would be nice to set up a blog about my crayfish (and crayfish in general). Mainly because I'd like to keep my forum restricted to information and studies on crayfish and crayfish care. And I believe my normal photo updates, stories, brood updates and so forth would quickly overrun my forum and make it an indiscernible mess. 

So, now we have the crayfish blog! Which I will post a link to in my forum, as well as a few other places. Well, I hope this works out. Heh.

-Crayfish Girl