bluecrayfish.com

Okay Appy, I need your expertise once again!

Quite a while back, I posted a picture of this white marmorkreb that had only been kept with the light that came into my fish room by the windows:



I have since let the majority of my marbled crayfish be used as feeders, but kept this one, since it seemed different. She now has a florescent light on her tank and her color has come out a very nice blue. She extracted eggs this past Saturday and I noticed they were white when she extracted them. I waited a few days to make sure the glair had set well to hold the eggs in place before getting a picture of her. The eggs are blue. In the past, all of the marmorkreb eggs have been brown. Here are a couple of pictures of them:





So does it look as if I may have a mutation on my hands?

I am not sure all of the eggs are going to be viable, though. She looked to have had a full berry on Saturday, but the eggs have dwindled a bit since then.

Not sure what's going on , but that's a pretty cray!!

That looks like something really special! You do realize you're now obligated to keep everyone updated about these eggs now, right?

A true mutation is very unlikely, especially with these. Because these guys are all clones it would be a 1 in a billion chance. More likely she is responding tosome environmental clue that triggers special coloration. I've seen them turn a very nice blue as has minicooper. Mine turned back when the pH and substrate was changed.

The babies should tell you though.

Yeah Jack, I know the chances of mutation are very small, but I'm still hoping for it!

The difference with this girl is that she has never shown any sign of brown like the other blue ones I've had and I've been keeping them since January 2006. I have also never seen eggs that were any color other than brown to black on the Marmorkrebs. She has been in a tank with white gravel, a bare bottomed tank and now with this tri-colored gravel and has consistantly been different than the rest of the Marmorkrebs.

I know that a crayfish' coloration is seldom a way to tell if a mutation has occurred, but I don't know about the different coloration of the eggs. Since Appy has studied this stuff, I'm hoping for a little insight about that or at least the right people to talk to about it.

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

I got an email back from Chris Lukhaup this morning and he doesn't think it's a mutation either. So much for my wishful thinking, I guess.

He said he has a book out called "Crayfish of the World" which I didn't know about. I'll need to find a copy. It's always good to support our fellow addicts.

Where could we obtain such a book?

I don't know, Dale. I've looked on ebay and Amazon and didn't see it. I didn't see it listed on crusta10 in their publication section either, unless it was in German. I guess I should send an email to ask Chris about that.

He does have a huge list of things he's written on crusta10. I really didn't know he was an author as well as a rock star!

Yeah I would agree, these are all genetically alike so it must be some environmental que that causes it.

Yes the book by Chris is in German

Thanks much, Appy!

I went camping over the weekend and when I got back, there were only about 30 or so eggs left in the berry. I think they may be infertile, but it does look as if they are developing. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Since this is the first berry she has extracted, she may eat all of them. I hate it when females do this, but it is typical the first time around.