New Blue Morph

[black_sun]

I was cleaning out my Marmorkreb tank today, since one of my juvenile Bullheads massacred my latest brood (and little floating bodies don't make for good tank conditions). *curses the hungry little catfish*

In any event, as I was scooping up the adults and the surviving juvenile I made an awesome discovery. One of my adults is turning blue! Like, completely blue (since the legs and claws turning or tinting blue is normal in Marmorkrebs, a result of a high protein diet).

It's so neat! I mean, blue morphs (or other morphs) occurring in crayfish (and in wild-caught crayfish in captivity) isn't all that grand. But for a species that is supposed to be genetically identical to the parent, the color morph is really awesome to me!

Normal colored Marmorkreb and the blue morph Mamorkreb.

A little more impressive in real life, since you can see where the grey spots are now turning navy blue. So neat!

I'm really curious to find out why one crayfish has begun to color morph when the others haven't. They're in the same tank, so the conditions are the same, they're eating the same diet, they're growing at similar rates... it's very intriguing.

 

[VinceC_69]

That is pretty interesting indeed, he looks awesome congrats. Keep us updated with pic's, im curious to see how much color he will develop in time

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Awesome!

 

[MN_Rebel]

Who knows you might create a new morph of Marmorkrebs? Oh by way when will you have a batch of young marmorkrebs as Im interesting buy some of these from you.

 

[black_sun]

That is pretty interesting indeed, he looks awesome congrats. Keep us updated with pic's, im curious to see how much color he will develop in time

Me too. I've seen a few odd color morphs in Mamorkrebs. Some not so impressive, but some are wild and fantastic. I've seen a few blue Mamorkrebs that became more vividly blue than P. alleni. I've also seen them in dark red and light green. Blue coloration seems to be the most common anomaly, though. So, I'll definitely be taking a lot of pics as time progresses! ^_^

Who knows you might create a new morph of Marmorkrebs? Oh by way when will you have a batch of young marmorkrebs as Im interesting buy some of these from you.

I don't know. The surviving offspring of the blue Mamorkreb are displaying nothing but the normal coloration. So I'm not sure if the morph is passed onto the offspring like it is with other crayfish morphs (like in P. clarkii and P. alleni). In any event, I have one Mamorkreb that survived the Bullhead attack that's old enough to be sold. However, she's pretty beat and I'm not sure if she's going to survive. If she makes it to the next molt I'll sell her. Otherwise, I have one female whose glare glands are showing so I think she's about to berry, which means I'll have a brood to sell in about a month.

 

[Yabbadoo]

lol....U sure he's breathing??? Turning blue & all......
Good stuff!!!

 

[black_sun]

lol....U sure he's breathing??? Turning blue & all......
Good stuff!!!

lol you dork

Check it out, one of my friends on another forum linked me a pictured of a light blue - white Mamorkreb he has!

I'm starting to find there's a large range of color morphs for this species. And a lot of interesting ideas as to why it occurs in some genetically identical beings but not others. Real neat. ^_^

 

[MN_Rebel]

Probably from their pure parent's genetics. As in theory, they were hybrids between two species...like I said its theory.

 

[Otto_VonBacon]

This is happening to all my hybrids too. they were born brown, but now most are half blue. one is even really blue. (the one that got its claw cut off) some are even displaying a pinch of red.

 

[black_sun]

Probably from their pure parent's genetics. As in theory, they were hybrids between two species...like I said its theory.

Yea, I've been doing a little researching and comparing notes with other keepers. There's a lot of ideas about the morphs in this species. Ranging from anomalies that occurred in the genes during development to environmental conditions. Environmental conditions seem to be the popular answer, though replicating other keeper's conditions seems to rarely produce the same results... which kind of strikes the idea out for me. I'm going more for anomalies in the genes, and more so if this species truly is a hybrid (since that's still under debate), it could make for all kinds of odd occurrences in the species. ^_^

This is happening to all my hybrids too. they were born brown, but now most are half blue. one is even really blue. (the one that got its claw cut off) some are even displaying a pinch of red.

Really? That's so neat... I love watching color changes in crayfish. It's very fascinating (and it makes for pretty crays lol)