Introducing: Cambarellus diminutus

[YuccaPatrol]

Thanks everyone. The last one is my favorite because it is the only specimen that has an orange coloration (which does not show up so well in the photo).

It appears that it has both orange and a brown/olive coloration. I'm hoping that some selective breeding could increase the orange and remove the brown for a nice orange dwarf cray.

Hopefully I will get more photos of the darker color morphs tonight.

[Newjohn]

YuccaPatrol
That sure is alot of color variation.
Were they collected all in the same Area ?

John

[The Fisherman]

very nice looking crayfish. Great job! Can't wait to see more.

-John (AKA: The Puffer Ninja)

[YuccaPatrol]

YuccaPatrol
That sure is alot of color variation.
Were they collected all in the same Area ?

John

They were collected from two sites, but these sites are in the same stream system no more than a couple miles apart. I've been thinking about why they might exist with so much variation and my best guess has to do with their choice of habitat.

They live among emergent aquatic plants at the shoreline of slow moving streams with sandy bottoms with dark colored leaf litter. Because their habitat is multicolored and because they are so small, there may not be a lot of natural selection for one or two preferred color morphs.

Wait until I get some photos of the dark ones. I'd guess that there are at least two to three times as many color morphs than I have been able to photograph.

edit: here is the best quality photo so far. . . .

[Newjohn]

YuccaPatrol

The Crayfish, look to have alot of Fuzz !

Is this typical for all of the Crayfish you collected ?

It sure is nice of you to share the photo's
John

[YuccaPatrol]

Thanks John, I really like taking the photos, and so I like posting them.

The "fuzz" is part of their sensory system. These could serve to sense vibrations or other stimuli. If you looked closely at larger species, you would see that that have the same "fuzz" too.

Here are a few more from tonight of some of the darker colors:





There are still few more shades of grey and brown that I need to catch

[Neonshrimp]

Are you keeping them together and are they with other types of inverts? I just wondered how social they are being wild caught. By the way they look great, thanks for the pictures

[YuccaPatrol]

They are being kept with some ghost shrimp that were collected from the same location. They don't seem to care about the ghosts at all.

[ToddnBecka]

Would different species of Cambarellus be likley to interbreed?

[YuccaPatrol]

Would different species of Cambarellus be likley to interbreed?

I can't give a definitive answer, but I can share a few bits of information I have found in the scientific literature that might be relevant to the question.

First, crayfish are usually identified based on the shape of the first pleopod of the male. The shape of this varies greatly and there could be some physical incompatibility between species that would prevent hybridization. No guarantee though.

Second, I have read several papers which mentioned that C. shufeldtii co-exists with C. diminutus and C. puer in some waterways. I have found no mention of hybridization, but one paper discussed how C. shufeldtii has extended its range at the expense of the other two through competition.

Third, the genus Cambarellus has been divided into 3 groups (sub-genus). There is one group composed of the Mexican species, another composed of only c. shufeldtii, and the last contains all other species found in the U.S. Hybridization would be more likley to occur within one of those groups than between groups. However, these groups are assigned by scientists based only on visible anatomical differences and geography/geology.

[Newjohn]

Wow

The Crayfish, in the last photo is MY favorite Dark colored Morf.

With so many different colors.
I hope you have alot of extra tanks, If you decide to try breeding them for each color.

This is a big plus for the Hobby.
John

[Newjohn]

YuccaPatrol

Thank You, for the information.

How many Mexican Species are there ?

John

[ToddnBecka]

The anatomical differences are visible, but I would imagine the pheromones would be different as well. I was wondering whether it would be wise to house different species of dwarf crayfish together, more specifically Mexican and North American species?
I was thinking pairs of different species may be easier to keep together in a small tank than several pairs of a single species.
If they wouldn't interbreed, would there be less conflict among males?
Would one species attack the other?
Or does it depend more on available space/territory requirements?
I am more familiar with cichlids than crayfish, but there seem to be parallel factors involved with both.
I'm trying to understand how crayfish react to different species, as opposed to conspecifics.
Cichlids are pretty simple: if it isn't their own species, and too big to eat, successful cohabitation is mainly dependent on space and territory.

[YuccaPatrol]

How many Mexican Species are there ?

I'll break down all of the species by subgenus:

9 species in the Cambarellus sub-genus from Mexico:

Cambarellus (Cambarellus) alvarezi
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) areolatus
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) chapalanus
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) chihuahuae
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) montezumae
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) occidentalis
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) patzcuarensis
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) prolixus
Cambarellus (Cambarellus) zempoalensis

1 species in the Dirigicambarus sub-genus from the U.S.:

Cambarellus (Dirigicamberus) shufeldtii

7 species in the Pandicambarellus sub-genus from the U.S.:

Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) blacki
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) diminutus
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) lesliei
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) ninae
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) puer
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) schmitti
Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) texanus

[The Fisherman]

Wow, i'm impressed Yucca, you know your stuff!!


Hehe, just test me on pufferfish