there is tons of people who have them right on here. they are real and buying direct from marbledcrays.com(i think is the guys website) is not the brightist idea. he is very exspensive. look around on here and AC. youll find some for much, much cheaper
Marbled Crayfish clones itself? New species? Is this ad for real?
- Thread starter Mystus Redtail
- Start date
I am the owner of the above site - the ORIGINAL Marbled Crayfish website at www.MarbledCrayfish.com. I also wrote articles appearing in TROPICAL FISH HOBBYIST MAGAZINE and other publications giving details about this animal. I did so to STOP the spread of misinformation which appears in the above posts.
First, yes the ARE all born female and do spontaneously clone themselves. Second, I have always insisted that anyone who uses them as "fishing bait" insures they are dead and FROZEN before using them in such a manner. And, to date, very few states have them on import ban, even though it is well known to biologists that "invasive species" appear around the world by natural means with no help from man. This includes the famous "flying fish" as well as the evil lampreys of the Great Lakes.
Being a responsible pet owner means anyone with half a brain will not dump live animals into natural waterways. Period.
Also, I see a LOT of pet stores and EBAY sales pitches selling "look alike" crays which do resemble Marmorkrebs, but do NOT clone themselves, and which DO chase and eat the fish in aquariums. These are FAKES. Buy at your own risk.
And yes, I still sell the ORIGINAL strain of Marmorkrebs at the ORIGINAL website for them: www.marbledcrayfish.com. This website is an information base, NOT just a place to buy them. They make great pets, and are a great source of Feeders for Cichlids and other aquarium fishes.
And by the way, I have nothing against the site www.marmorkrebs.org as it is a great site, meant for the community of ACADEMIA (professional lab research). Since I have sold my ORIGINAL strain to Harvard Biolabs, many other universities, as well as aquarium hobbyists, I feel there is a place for everything. My site, www.marbledcrayfish.com, is meant for the introduction of this animal to average aquarium keepers. And the information there is updated regularly.
First, yes the ARE all born female and do spontaneously clone themselves. Second, I have always insisted that anyone who uses them as "fishing bait" insures they are dead and FROZEN before using them in such a manner. And, to date, very few states have them on import ban, even though it is well known to biologists that "invasive species" appear around the world by natural means with no help from man. This includes the famous "flying fish" as well as the evil lampreys of the Great Lakes.
Being a responsible pet owner means anyone with half a brain will not dump live animals into natural waterways. Period.
Also, I see a LOT of pet stores and EBAY sales pitches selling "look alike" crays which do resemble Marmorkrebs, but do NOT clone themselves, and which DO chase and eat the fish in aquariums. These are FAKES. Buy at your own risk.
And yes, I still sell the ORIGINAL strain of Marmorkrebs at the ORIGINAL website for them: www.marbledcrayfish.com. This website is an information base, NOT just a place to buy them. They make great pets, and are a great source of Feeders for Cichlids and other aquarium fishes.
And by the way, I have nothing against the site www.marmorkrebs.org as it is a great site, meant for the community of ACADEMIA (professional lab research). Since I have sold my ORIGINAL strain to Harvard Biolabs, many other universities, as well as aquarium hobbyists, I feel there is a place for everything. My site, www.marbledcrayfish.com, is meant for the introduction of this animal to average aquarium keepers. And the information there is updated regularly.
Marmorkrebs;4457602; said:
Not wanting to be a jerk or anything, as I have read your site and you do have some good info on Marbled Crays, but aren't you a bit full of yourself? You make it out like your 'ORIGINAL' strain of Marbled Crays is somehow superior to all of the other genetic clone marbled crays out there. If it's a Marbled Cray, then it is 100% identical to your 'ORIGINAL' strain, correct? A species that reproduces through Parthenogenesis should not display any genetic variation.
I haven't really seen any of these mysterious "look alike" marbles around either. Can you point out some specific species that have the same look as a Marbled Cray? They are fairly distinctive, as each one is a genetic clone and every dot is in the same place. This seems like a scare tactic to try and make people afraid to buy from other sources, a way to plug your own overpriced selling of crays. People can find them on Aquabid for less than half the 'sale' price you currently list, and if your prices listed on your site are to be believed then you normally sell 1 adult for $99.95? For an animal that will clone itself without any special intervention from the aquarist? An animal with no special keeping requirements to justify that nutty price?
I've also read several accounts of Marbled crays snagging live fish, from people who seem to know what they are talking about. I doubt they were these mysterious "look alikes" that also self clone.. It's still a crayfish after all. They might be more docile than other crays, but they are still opportunistic feeders and will not pass up the chance to munch on a slow moving fish if they can.
They say if you do use them as bait make sure you freeze them first to kill them. It is definitely true and I have a trio here myself one is even berried (or has eggs). I'm prepping myself for when I get my polys and other fish that can eat these buggars!
Read the Ontario angler's guide and you'll see all baitshops are now prohibited from selling crayfish of any kind due to the marbled cray. We have some crays in the pond, but not sure which kind. they would have to survive winters to be prohibited like that I would imagine.
Crispy;4462141; said:
Well, the current common theory is that they originated from North America. They were discovered in an LFS over in Germany, but their body characteristics point to a North American species origin. Probably a hybrid of species that switched to parthenogenesis for reproduction. There are also several collected specimens of Procambarus clarkii (widespread across North America) that have been shown to be genetic clones of each other. This suggests that some members of that species can also clone themselves. No self cloning individuals of Procambarus clarkii are currently in captivity that I am aware of though. After a lot of research, my theory is that Procambarus clarkii hybridized with another species and created the first Marbled Crays. Just my opinion though, don't quote that as fact.
Anyway, if Marbled Crays do originate from North America, then it is likely that they can be acclimated to freezing winters. For this reason, extreme caution should be exercized in making sure they aren't released into the wild. Given their explosive population growth potential, they could severely damage any natural ecosystem to which they are introduced.
