procambarus vasquezae blue crayfish

[newellcr]

I found some of these at the local auction yesterday, but I can't find much about them with a google search.  Does anyone know about them or can point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

[Soothing Shrimp]

This may help?

 

http://www.planetinverts.com/Procambarus%20vasquezae.html

 

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/rare-dwarf-crayfish.270909/

[newellcr]

Thanks Soothing.  They also had the common name of 'Big Claw Crayfish' on the bag.  I am surprised there aren't more references out there.

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[newellcr]

Woohooo!!  Some pups today.  I came back from a long weekend and one side of the tank was redecorated with a pile of rocks removed from a cave.  That's good news.

[josu2]

Gotta see some pics when you can!

[newellcr]

This is the tank set up.  The little buggers hide a lot, especially when you shift the lights to get a good picture.  There is one hiding under the top piece of slate.

[newellcr]

This is one of several that do not have the big claws.  The claws seem much bigger in reference to body size than my Electric Blue's.  I started with 6 or so and haven't seen any signs of remains.  My guess is that there are still 4 to 5.  There has been some aggression in that tank and a couple have only one claw.  Maybe it's a female, maybe it was fighting.  I can't say.  I have kept aquarium fish for a long time, but am relatively new to Crays.  I pulled a dozen babies the day I saw them.  I would have pulled more but they retreated into the large gravel.  That was the plan, so it is hard to complain about hiding places for the pups.  I will try to post a better picture when I can get one.

[ShrimpP]

Nice!

 

When I had Procambarus clarkii, the babies would not be in any danger or risk of being challenged by larger crays until they were a good size (sexually mature?).

Females still do have 2 front claws/arms, so the missing front claws were from fighting (or possibly a bad molt).

 

Your electric blue crays (Procambarus alleni?) didn't have larger claws than the one in the pic? Must have been a electric blue dwarf Cambarellus species?

 

Is "pup(s)" a common term used for cray youngsters? If so, all this time I've never known haha.

[newellcr]

Hello ShrimpP,  Thanks.  My P alleni have claws that are similar in proportion to the one in this picture, but maybe a little longer.  I should have a picture in my attachments of the alleni Electric Blue.  My alleni Electric Blues get big.  The biggest one is about 5 inches long and it still seems to be growing somewhat.  There is another P vasquesae with big claws - he must be hidding.  'His' claws are more shaped like large food lobsters but seem deeper from 'palm' to back of the claw.  Getting pictures of my shrimp and fish isn't easy for me.  Even when they behave, I have a hard time focusing and firing off the shot.  Pretty much everything I have posted so far is taken with my Samsung Note 3 phone. 

 

I wish I new what to call the babies.  'Pups' just seemed right.  I have two tanks with Electric Blue's in them and the little ones seem ok with the larger ones.  I think you have it right about not having aggression with adults against the young.  The alleni can be harsh on each other as adults.  The vasquesae don't seem so aggressive.  I have seen the young alleni attack each other.  I pulled young on several occasions and had them in deli cups for bagging.  One of the bigger ones grabbed and killed a slightly smaller one on at least two occasions. 

 

This picture of the p vasquesae is disappointing.  The blue is generally deeper, but not like the alleni Electric Blues.  The claws can be big and chunky without looking like a cartoon. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[newellcr]

It took a while, but the one with the big claws came out of hiding.