New Crayfish

[showjyr]

I've had my common cray for about a week and he's settled into his new home well.

He molted once and got most of a leg he was missing back along with a full length antenna that had been broken off half way when i got him.

 

[fishwatcher]

He's cute! (yes, I mean cute! I think crays are such adorable little things!)

 

[Invader Xan]

Awww... He is cute! Can't be very old either...

 

[showjyr]

Awww... He is cute! Can't be very old either...

Nope, i don't think he is very old. He's only about 3 inches long.

 

[three-fingers]

I'll third the 'cute' thing . I said that about some red claw crabs at the lfs the other day and got strange looks .

What species is the common crayfish?

 

[showjyr]

I'll third the 'cute' thing . I said that about some red claw crabs at the lfs the other day and got strange looks .

What species is the common crayfish?

He was sold as just a common cray. I tried a little researching last night and discovered that there are tons of crays especially in the US and most of them sold at lfs are listed as just that "common".

Here are a few more pics if anyone with some knowledge wants to take a whack at an exact ID of him.

I would love to know what he is exactly, sometime down the road i might get him a girlfriend.

 

[raptorrex]

my guess on species is P Allani. with a mild chance of P clarki. can yo do a underside shot and one or two of its head/rostrum?

 

[showjyr]

Hmmm.... an underside shot. He's just getting to the point where he's not that afraid of me and won't dart around the tank when i put my hand in. I don't really want to give him a reason to fear me. I'll try to trick him into showing me his belly when i feed him later though.

One or two of his head? How close up do they need to be? The last three picks were about as close as i can get without making it blurry.

 

[jlOisAhoTti]

Looks to me to be a female because of the rounded short claws.

 

[showjyr]

Pretty sure it a male as i think i've seen the last set of legs folded under but i'll know for sure if i can get a really good look.

 

[showjyr]

Wow! That was easier than expected to get pics of his....errr maybe her, underside.

Cucumber+fishing line= easy pics of belly.

Hope these are good enough to ID and sex(i think it's a girlie).

 

[showjyr]

Odd question...kinda. Will crays eat snails?

 

[jlOisAhoTti]

most of them do actually.

 

[Invader Xan]

Yeah, crays and big shrimp do. They can use their claws to kinda pick snails out of their shells.

 

[raptorrex]

i can confirm its a female! and the breed is procambarus clarkii.

yep they will eat snails, that said if they are few enough, larger snails, have been said to do ok. one word of warning though, if any one of the snails is damaged or hurt, this may well set off a killing spree by the Crayfish. i recently read a report on this subject by the US version of DEFRA, one cracked snail caused a big increase in the predation in the control sample.

related to this subject, most people don't realize that calcium is not part of a crayfish diet . though small amounts do go through the stomach, unlike fish cray do have a stomach. two in fact, nearly all the calcium a cray needs is absorbed, or taken in, through the carapace. eating snail shells will not help your cray grow strong. crushing them after moult may have a benefit though.