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Dropped eggs in my isolation units get eaten pretty quickly.

One day I may try to incubate eggs artificially. It is at least worth trying if I ever have a bunch of dropped eggs at once.

I've been thinking a LOT about why they might drop over half of their eggs. It is obvious that there is not enough room for that many juveniles, but it seems wasteful to produce eggs that do not have a chance of survival. I came up with a new hypothesis after noticing free-living juveniles in my main tank that had to have been from a female I have not seen with eggs.

So here is my idea:

When carrying eggs, females are especially vulnerable and hiding is the best way to protect the future offspring.

If you produce more eggs than can hatch and the extras drop off over time, you have a readily available food source and do not have to go out into the big scary world to find food.

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But organisms frequently have behaviors that seem wasteful when it comes to energy expenditure, but if it increases reproductive success then the initial loss is regained.

For instance, the male peacock grows an incredibly display of ornate feathers. It costs a lot of energy and makes it more vulnerable to predation. But, the cock with the prettiest feathers gets the girl.

But my idea is only a hypothesis to ponder for the time being.

It seems more likely to me that the number of eggs is genetically programmed. A certain number are produced regardless of the female's ability (or lack thereof) to carry them. Natural selection and/or environmental limitations may simply influence adult size more quickly than egg production. Over a few thousnad more years, the number of eggs produced may more closely match the female's carrying capacity.

Update: two females with hatched eggs now dropping free-living juveniles.

9 juveniles in isolation, approximately 8 more to drop soon.

5 other females now carrying eggs. 3 of these are carrying at least 10 and have been for almost a week.

Wow, you have a crayfish factory there ! Congratulations and best wishes with the babies

CONGRATS

That is awesome. Now you can officially call yourself a C. diminutus breeder. Now let's get these guys established in the hobby.

Mustafa wrote:Now let's get these guys established in the hobby.

That is exactly where these babies are headed. Just need to grow them up to a safe size for shipping.

YuccaPatrol

That is great news.
Does anyone Know if this is the First time, this Species has been bred by a Hobbiest ?

Maybe you could start writting a Short Article. And See if Mustafa will include in the Articles Section.

I know spare time is hard to come by.
So, no hurry on the Article

Keep Up the Good Work
John

Newjohn wrote:YuccaPatrol


Does anyone Know if this is the First time, this Species has been bred by a Hobbiest ?

Thanks Newjohn. The only hobbiest reference I can find is 3 photos on a European caridina website.

I haven't found any scientific references specifically relating to reproductive behavior, although there are still a few more papers I need to track down.

So as far as I know, this is the first documented report of captive breeding, but I am open to being wrong about this. Considering that I have been contacted by some European collectors, I suspect that I may be th only person keeping these right now, but that will change soon.

One more bit of useful information: I have allowed the pH to creep up to 6.9 and they are breeding very happily. This is good news because maintaining tanks at 6.2 would make these much more difficult for most people to care for.

Good news, and not too terribly surprising. Many species with very isolated distributions actually prefer different conditions from those in which they are found; they just aren't successful when in competition with other species in conditions under which they would otherwise thrive. A good example of this are the plants in the Euphorbia decaryi complex - they are extreme xerophytes in the wild, but in cultivation respond well to constant moisture and dimmer, more even light - this suggests they evolved from a mesic flora and found themselves "hanging on by their fingernails" as the local climate changed. They just have good "fingernails," allowing them to succeed where others fail, even though the conditions are far from ideal.

I'd be willing to bet that after a generation or so in captivity C. diminutus be quite happy to breed even in moderately alkaline water.

This morning I counted 12 free-living juveniles, 2 more are ready to drop, and two more should drop in the next couple days.

Thanks for the updates, it is great to hear about a possible groundbreaking even in the hobby while it is happening