Marbled Crayfish clones itself? New species? Is this ad for real?
- Thread starter Mystus Redtail
- Start date
fargokid;4462821; said:
I don't think they would survive being frozen solid. They could safely be used as bait in that case. Being able to acclimate to freezing winters and surviving being frozen solid are totally different.
Don't go fishing with anything less than Marble Brand Craysicles!
Clay;4461786; said:
I couldn't agree more, with you both.
Chicklette;4462108; said:
WOW! After reading this entire thread, and especially your post, Chicklette, it sound to me like they breed worse than mice, rats or rabbits. It also seems as though in order to save the fish, less than 5 inches in size, a person has to have a species tank just for these critters. (BTW, Chicklette, how big do these critters get, any way?) Beings how they appear to be oportunistic feeders, I'm surprized they don't cannibilize themselves.
Dark Jester;4462456; 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.
Dark Jester:
Ever thought about writing a Doctoral Thesis based on actual findings then making a sticky on these critters, based on your own findings. Then we can have something based on true facts, that everyone can read and UNDERSTAND on MFK. Just curious! Thanks.
David K. Bradley;4467071; said:
You can kindof think of them as guppies as far as reproductive rates, brood sizes can be larger, but not quite as often. They max out at around 2.5" - 3", so they don't get too big.
While they are significantly more docile than most other cray species out there, they will snatch tank mates if the opportunity presents itself. They may also cannibalize each other, particularly when molting. It's just not as common as with other crays. Tank conditions probably play into that a lot. If they are regularly well fed, they are going to be less likely to eat fish or each other. Starve them a bit and 'accidents' are much more likely to happen.
David K. Bradley;4467071; said:
The reason it hasn't been done by others already is that DNA geneology requires males of the species. Nobody can say with certainty what species the Marbled Crays originated from, because all Marbles are female.
Unless someone actually witnesses the hybridization take place between the parent species again, or finds a natural population of them that was not released from captivity, we may never know exactly where they come from.I'm far from an expert though. I've just spent a lot of time researching them.
I feed them like crazy. I have tons of plants in their for the babies so we will see. When the mom is having the babies you can see her roll the eggs around, it's so weird. They are awsome.
Are the self cloning crayfish legal in ca? I'm looking for a food source for pet collection. Also are any of the other self cloning stuff legal?
its true my friends dad had one in a tank by itself for about a year and suddenly it had eggs all babies were female they know it wasnt carrying sperm because they got it as a baby
These are parthenogenic crayfish. Most "serious" hobbyists around here have been trying to get rid of them ever since they started taking over their tanks!
