Dear Blue Lobster

Taxicuticulary: Crustacean Shell Preservation

2009-03-11T08:00:00.002+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We have a blue lobster in our fish tank. The lobster just shed his shell. Is there a way to preserve the shell or at least the claws for our child to keep? Thank you.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Families often wish to remind themselves of the good times spent with their shelled friends and one way to do this is taxicuticulary, the preservation of their cray's shells.

The first step in shell preservation is cleaning. Using a 1:1 ratio mixture of distilled water and distilled vinegar, scrub the shell parts lightly with a toothbrush. When finished, rinse thouroughly in distilled water. Since vinegar is a weak acid, it will eat the shell if left too long.

After scrubbing, soak the shells in distilled water for twenty-four hours in a cool, dry place removed from direct sunlight. This will help dissolve any deposits on the shell. After twenty-four hours, place the shell on a clean towel to dry for several hours.

The third and final step should be performed by an adult. Take the dried shell and dip it in a clearcoat or varnish. The choice is yours whether you want something thin to simply coat the shell or something thicker. Call or visit your local home improvement store for more details. Tell them you're preserving crayfish shell and they ought to have a recommendation.

One caveat: if you intend to make jewelery, such as a nice pair of pincer earrings, drill the holes after the second step, then again once the lacquor or clearcoat has dried. This preserves the shell more effectively.

Good luck with your taxicuticulary project!

Growing Prawns in Kuala Lumpur

2009-01-28T08:00:00.007+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I accidentally came across your blog while searching for material on crayfish.

I really hope you can take the time to answer my mail, as I am really interested in raring prawn/ crustaceans (particularly crayfish) in Malaysia.

This would be a really novice question, would the American Crayfish be rared in a tropical climate ?

Kuala Lumpur has a hot, tropical climate with heavy rain storms occurring throughout the year, mostly in the early evenings. Day time temperatures can reach around 95°F (35°C).

What would be the best import species to be rared here ?

I have a piece of land, roughly 20 acres with a running stream in it, I am now really thinking hard to rear something in it.

What would your advise be if i wanted something crustaceans ?

Thank you in advance for your time,

Cheers,
Jack

Dear Gentle Sir:

Selamat pagi!

Since crayfish are ectothermic, or "cold-blooded," their climate does matter. Too hot of a climate for a crayfish can cause metabolic, nervous, and respiratory complications, putting a profitable harvest in jeopardy.

The name "American Crayfish" is problematic because it does not specify a species, but assuming that it is from a hot-humid region, where it's 20 for 3,000 or more hours annually and 23 for 1,500 hours annually, the cray ought to thrive.

This includes Orconectes rusticus, which is, of course, considered an Invasive Species Class 1, which means it is under the tightest control from environmental authorities due to its proclivity to disrupt native species.

Likewise, the Marmorkrebs clones itself so readily that, even though a tropical climate would be unideal for it, it would represent a very real and urgent danger to your area.

Check with your local authorities for their regulations regarding what species are legal to grow where you live. Optimally, they will have a list of known safe species and perhaps supplier contacts as well. You should be able to request an official decision on other species should you so desire.

Also be aware that, despite superficial similarities and local jargon, crayfish and prawns are not the same type of animal. A "prawn" is a lay term for freshwater shrimp of various classifications while "shrimp" seems reserved for marine species.

When considering and purchasing species for aquaculture, always demand binomial nomenclature and research its veracity. In unregulated markets, the switch-and-bait sale (no pun intended, of course) is dangerously common.

Too many times has an honest waterfarmer been taken by a deceptive fishmonger and later found his harvest of crustaceans to be all shell and shank, or the small wiggly larvae he purchased to create nothing but clouds of mosquitos. Do not share such an outcome with less educated entrepreneurs!

Milk: It Does a Body Shell Good?

2009-01-23T08:00:00.003+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I'm afraid my electric blue lobster ins't getting enough calcium, what should I feed him?

Dear Gentle Sir:

Crustaceans form their exoskeletons from chitin, a leathery carbohydrate reinforced with calcium carbonate.

Without the calcium carbonate, as happens just after a molt, a crustacean is considered "soft-shelled." Some crustaceans eat their old shells to regain a measure of calcium so as to harden themselves. In an aquarium, where that might not be tenable, what is one to do?

One solution that was popular in the Eighties was to add milk to the aquarium. This was at the height of the American Dairy Council's "Does a Body Good" campaign, when the dairy industry was trying to create new markets. They introduced "Milk-for-Fish" to the pet trade in 1985.

Unfortunately for crustaceans in American aquaria, milk in the water had several undesirable side-effects. First, milk is slighly acid, which sent the pH levels of tanks off. Second, crustaceans can only absorb calcium by ingestion, so passing milk through their gills did nothing but make them breathe lactose and milk fats all day long.

Third, it made the aquarium opaque, so humans couldn't see their small friends and their small friends could not see one another. Fourth, it interrupted crustaceans' antennae's sensory abilities, causing them to bump into their environment drunkenly and miss out on food entirely. And fifth, it turned the water rancid and quite stinky.

After a backlash from the aquarium community, in which several lawsuits claiming false advertising were launched and several out-of-court settlements were made, the American Dairy Council withdrew their Milk-for-Fish campaign.

Since then, "calc-licks," small lumps of compressed industrial chitin by-product, have been the product of choice for crustaceans in need of a calcium carbonate boost. They can be had from your local pet store quite cheaply depending on the size.

You can also feel free to add washed shell pieces from your own shellfish dinners, something much cheaper and closer to what a crustacean might find in front of them in the wild.

The Torturous Train of Triops Taxonomy

2009-01-14T08:00:00.002+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Can you tell me if any species of tadpole/longtail shrimp live in Taiwan? Thanks!

mj klein

Dear Gentle Sir:

The triop, also known as the horseshoe shrimp, lazarus shrimp, shield shrimp, tadpole shrimp, or, in Mandarin-speaking regions, as 盾蟹 (shield crab), are sixteen species between two genera under the Linnaean taxonomical system that comprise one of the oldest and most primitive crustacean groups still extant. They have not changed much in the last 220 million years.

The distribution of species is problematic in the historical context. One species, Triops longicaudatus, is distributed through central North America, all of South America, parts of Micronesia, and East Asia (though not Taiwan). Several theories have been put forth to explain such complex distributions, but each has serious flaws.

Paterson (1977) proposed a reclassifcation of extant triops species, suggesting that the distribution failed to make sense because the taxonomy was wrong. Marmur (1979) argued that the taxonomy was indeed sound but that closer study of prehistoric landmass movements was in order while Webb (1980) pushed for even more radical taxonomic reclassification.

Webb later concluded that triops were actually two species with pronounced climate adaptations causing subspeciation (1982) and made vigorous attempts at hybridization, though he sadly was committed later that year and never contributed to the topic again; Mitchell (1984) posited that the triops genera were the result of convergent evolution.

Molecular studies put an answer to the question with Capaldi (1988), who showed the lineages were quite accurate as understood. Since then other have quibbled over species and subspecies classification and discussed plate tectonics and its intersection with triops distribution.

In answer to your initial question, there are no species of triops in Taiwan, which offers a tantalizing clue to crustaceologists. Did triops never live on Taiwan, meaning the island separated from Asia before they existed? Or did triops live there for a time but, in the specialized island environment, go extinct?

Until these and other questions are answered, the multi-million year old mystery remains, tantalizing scientist and hobbyist alike. If you're desperate to see triops in Taiwan, however, try visiting some university labs, where imported speciments thrive happily. Just don't release any in the wild!

The Case of the Feathered Crayfish

2009-01-09T08:00:00.003+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have a 3 year old Blue Lobster named Ozzy and he just molted and now he has these weird feather-like parasites growing off the side of him. They are an inch long. They were under his shell before he molted. They look like sea-corral and have feathered fans that look like they catch microorganisms.

I was wondering if an anti-bacteria / anti-fungal medication will work eventually. It has done nothing so far.

Do you know how to get rid of them without hurting Ozzy?

I attached a picture

Gary
Ontario, Canada

Dear Gentle Sir:

Those are no parasites, those are your crayfish's gills!

Sometimes, when a cray—or any crustacean—molts, the process goes awry. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as poor diet, improper habitat, distress, or unfavorable genetics. The process is torturous to begin with and is the most vulnerable part of any crustacean's life.

Of the many things that can go wrong during a molt, it is most common in crayfish for legs and antennae to become suppressed or mangled. Therefore it's possible in some crays for whole legs to grow underneath their shell though they remain unseen on the outside. Indeed this is how crays regenerate lost limbs.

Mismolting can result in other deformities as well, some of which can lead debilitation or death. Crayfish have been known to mismolt their tails, which means they can not escape by means of tailflapping, leaving them slow and liable to predation. A cray in a laboratory was recorded to have mismolted its eyes and spent the better part of two months blind, making it way by its sense of smell alone.

In your case, though your crayfish might look freakish and scare its other tankmates away, it will likely survive. Make sure your cray has plenty of available shelter and does not share its tank with any predacious species. If you suspect water quality being a factor in your cray's mismolt, have a batch tested at your local pet care center.

In the meantime, enjoy your cray's wonderful new plumage underwater and out of the air until the next time it molts, when the gills will hopefully become enshelled again.

Lazarus (Shrimp) in Israel?

2008-12-31T08:00:00.005+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I am getting ready to start growing triops with the kids.

Are you aware whether there are fossils of triops in Israel? Where could I go with the kids to see them?

Thank you,

Nathan Wirtschafter
Hashmonaim, Israel

Dear Gentle Sir:

Despite the term "Lazarus" used to describe triops, there are no triops fossils in Israel. One was discovered in Jordan in 1922 by Dr. Abraham Müller of the Freie Universität Berlin in strata some twenty-two million years old, though its species and genus were never verified.

Despite this dearth of triops fossila, a fun experience for your children can still be had due to the short lifecycle of the creatures. Simply order a triops kit from your favorite online retailer and follow the instructions. In the course of several months your children can chart the birth, life, death, and "fossilization" of their own triops.

In whatever container your grow your little friends, include a layer of clay or mud and sand at the bottom. Once the triops die, leave their tank in the sun until the substrate is completely dried. With a toothpick, paintbrush, and magnifying glass, your children can unearth the triops exoskeletons.

Just like a real paleontologist, carefully piece together shell fragments and any other items of interest. Can your children guess from the "fossils" alone what the creatures ate? How they moved? Reproduced? How did they breathe? Of course your children know these things from watching the creatures while alive, but looking back through the "fossil record" here will be a rewarding experience.

And of course, once finished with your dig site, add some water and watch triops hatch anew, just like the real Lazarus!

Will My Ten-Incher Get Bigger?

2008-12-24T08:00:00.003+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I bought a blue lobster from WalMart about 3 years ago. He is now about 10 inches long (tail to claw) and still growing. How big do these get?

Bill Schamp

Dear Gentle Sir:

Without knowing the species, it is hard to say. Typically, there are only two species sold at retail chains in North America: Orconectes immunis, which reaches around 14cm (5½ in.) or Procambarus alleni, which grows slightly largers at 15cm (6 in.). Since your cray is roughly twice the length, it is possible that it's an Australian variety, as Australian species often exhibit insular gigantism. Whether it's a Cherax destructor, fabulosis, quadricarinatus, or tenuimanus, or another less common species, it could easily grow upwards of 34.5cm (13½ in.).

Since your cray is quite large and will likely grow larger, you should have a twenty gallon tank at a minimum, if not twice that. Considering the better conditions the cray will recieve in your tank, and the possibility that there are growth-inducing chemicals present in the water itself (from birth control pills, industrial runoff, etc.), your cray would be safest in a one hundred gallon tank. This would allow him or her to grow to an impressive 45cm (almost 18 inches!) and still feel unstifled. You can also create quite the reproduction of a natural environment with the extra room, including logs, rocks, shallows, and substantial flora.

In the future, when asking for help regarding a specific cray, include some documentation that might help identification. This includes some photographs from different angles, especially the cray's underside, place and date of purchase, and the common or scientific names and any other information given at the store. One may be able to deduce from some of the less direct evidence what family or genus the cray is, if not the species. This can help make any advice regarding your cray more accurate and therefore more beneficial in the care of your little crustacean friend.

The Case of the Colorized Cray

2008-12-17T08:00:00.003+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We have an Electric Blue Lobster. He's gone through at least two molts and is if anything a much richer, deeper blue (with bright red spots in places). Does this mean he has not been artificially injected with blue dye?

Dawn

Dear Gentle Sir:

Though cray owners usually complain of the opposite—their cray's colors fading into disturbing shades of slimy brown-green-grey, factors that don't include unnatural dyes or make-up can cause a cray's colors to become brighter and more pronounced.

Lighting is important. Despite being a bottom-dweller, crayfish are used to and require regular doses of sunlight throughout the year. Without this exposure, they fail to form vitamin D and other compounds necessary for robust health. With crayfish, poor health means poor color.

Your substrate can also affect your cray's coloration. Like any animal, the cray will try to blend in with its surroundings, and like some specific animals, the cray can change its coloration. If your gravel is bright, your cray is likely to become brighter over the course of several molts.

During some species' mating phase, the cray may ingest local minerals or plants to augment their look. This serves to make the cray more attractive with specific muds causing reds, blues, or yellows come out in their shell. Some species even wear algae or fungi as wigs.

Keeping a picture journal of your cray can help document its color changes. Whenever you perceive a coloration change, use your favorite webcam to take pictures. Then upload the pictures using your favorite blogging software and you can over time adjudge the what, if any, change has occurred.

Black Market Crustacea

2008-04-23T08:00:00.009+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I was reading your web page when I came across a really neat marine shrimp, Lysmata cyanea. I figured that you might know someone that works with this particular species of shrimp or where they originate. Would you be able to help me in acquiring some specimens? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Mike

Dear Gentle Sir:

Many species highlighted in academic research are not part of commercial trade. These species are often rare or endangered or, in the case of new discoveries, not classified or surveyed yet. In other words, there's no commercial access to such species that are so well outside commercial aquarium trade.

That isn't to say there's no way at all to obtain specimens, however.

There is a thriving underground black market for rare and valuable crustaceans driven mostly by private collectors but also fueled in part by academia and museums: unscrupulous collectors and curators and university students, faculty, and staff. In Africa, for instance, importing O. rusticus is quite lucrative as the return on successful aquaculture in Africa is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of euros annually, small change in comparison to other markets, but huge in the scope of source of the specimens.

The sad part about students mixing up with the seedy underbelly of animal trade is that both people and crustaceans die needlessly. Recently, pirates murdered the crew of a ship carrying several tons of O. rusticus; eight are known dead and two are missing. Last June, the crew of a trawler secretly hauling Diamond crabs were killed after engaging in a gunfight with the West African Coast Guard.

Ultimately, such disregard for animal life goes against the tenets of research and objectifying specimens leads to a loss of knowledge and endangerment of those involved, whether they are foolish undergraduates or sunburned pirates. Do not support this illicit trade and instead report it to your local authorities. If an animal is unfamiliar enough to remain outside the aquarium trade, leave it that way.

Why Did My Fiddler Crab Die?

2008-04-16T08:00:00.004+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We volunteered to take the Fiddler Crab from my son’s in-class science project. The crab appeared to be doing well, eating and taking some dips in his “pool” of salt water. We changed his water and his food regularly. He burrowed through the substrate mixture (sand and humus?) in the bottom of his cage – and often slept under his see-through pool (the container the class used to provide salt water).

He was more lively than usual over the weekend – climbing up and over the flat seashell, ½ coconut shell, fake plant, and swimming pool.

Today, he appears liveless – he is upside down in his cage and has not moved since we woke up this am. There doesn’t appear to be any new appendages or a new crab anywhere in the cage.

Can you tell me how to tell if he is dead, molting, or already molted?

This mom is unfamiliar with fiddler crabs and wants to make sure we know what “Thunder” is doing, before assuming him dead.

Thank you.
Linda Adams

Dear Gentle Sir:

Thunder, from your description, appeaears to be dead. I am so sorry for your loss.

A crustacean's living conditions general health affect its ability to molt. Sick or otherwise unwell crustaceans molt abnormally and may not molt at all, and if a crustacean can not molt when it needs to, it will die.

When an illness or stressful situation limits the crustacean from molting, it will literally explode in its shell. The cracks induce sepsis from the numerous infectious agents now able to attack the soft inner body.

In Thunder's case, it appears that his living conditions were suitable generally and he was in more or less robust health, so what other factors might have been at play?

It is possible that, despite Thunder's well-kept tank, the stress from too many visitors kept him feeling unprepared for a molt. Did one of his numerous visitors offer him something potentially poisoinous?

One must keep in mind that Thunder might have been nearing the limits of his lifespan. You don't mention a physical description, but most Fiddlers live no more than two or three years. One species, Uca senex, lives to be seven years old in some cases, but that is an exception to the norm.

It is possible Thunder had scuttled through the greater part of his life when you inherited him, and either his own old age or the stresses of students and moving to your residence finally knocked him off.

One must not blame onesself for such tragedies, however; only in dealing face-front with crustacean rearing and death does experience build. Check out some crustacean or aquarium literature from your local library and consider your time with Thunder. The next little friend you take in will benefit.

Sudden Crustacean Death Syndrome

2008-04-09T08:00:00.009+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We purchased "Pinchy", an electric blue lobster about 7 months ago from a local fish shop.

He has been extremely healthy as far as I can see, always eating, molted about every 60 days, great colour, very active in the tank torturing our other fish. Tank is 90 gallons, pH about 6.5, temp about 76 degrees.

Last night "Pinchy" was alive and well, cruising around the tank looking for treats. This morning "Pinchy" was dead, lying on the bottom, no signs of struggle. Water is fine in the tank, nothing is broken, nothing else is dead, the other fish had not even touched him yet.

What is the average lifespan for this type of lobster? Also, anything off the top of your head that you think he may have "caught" disease-wise? It just blows my mind that he died for apparently no reason.

Looking forward to hearing your opinion,

Brett MacLean

Dear Gentle Sir:

There is nothing more shocking than seeing your perfectly healthy little friend lying belly-up at the bottom of the tank, legs gently swaying in the current. It is this kind of unexpected, unsymptomed death in otherwise healthy individuals that is called Sudden Crustacean Death Syndrome, or Scruds for short.

As with any syndrome, Scruds describes related symptoms but not the underlying cause. In your case, Pinchy may have had several conditions, including a bacterial infection, a congenital neural disorder, or chronic aging.

The possibility of a bacterial infection here seems minimal since you describe Pinchy as being healthy and active, though sepsis-related Scruds of healthy individuals is not unheard of. It also doesn't sound like you are unfamiliar with aquarium maintenance so the possibility of a bad water change, temperature shock, or chemical poisoning seem likely.

In the case of a neurological disorder, the defect is inborn and there is no real way to prevent its onset. Crayfish family histories are so hard to track outside of a lab that buying an animal commercially is a crapshoot as far as genetic health goes. If this was the case with Pinchy, a shift in water temperature, introduction of a specific bacteria, or an slight shift in chemicals or other factors could have caused his nervous system to short circuit.

The most likely explanation for victims of Scrubs remains, however, is chronic aging. Chronic aging is a perennial issue with any life-based organism, as complex systems wear out over time due to the degradation of DNA during the replication process. You didn't mention how old your crayfish was, only that you'd had it for seven months.

Species typically sold as "Blue Lobsters" (see the end of this entry) typically live from two to four years with some captive specimens living five or six years. One notable case, a specimen named Methuselah, lived to be an astounding ten years of age and only died when an undergraduate lab tech cooked and ate him.

Size is the key to your cray's age. Anything beyond four inches is a good indicator that the cray is at least middle-aged and one can only hope for a few sweet months and expect to get them. This is one reason why buying younger crays is a good idea as you get more cray for your money; that is, until a treatment or cure for chronic aging is discovered.

Not So True Blue Two

2008-03-12T08:00:00.010+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Recently I bought a blue yabbie and a electric blue. I know electric blue lobsters are usually many different breeds all thrown into the same name but I have one that's exhibiting really odd coloring. He looks like the standard blue at 6 inches or so except his last molt he developed bright orange almost see through sides to his claws, the part that's stationary not on a joint.

One more thing, my blue yabbie was very brown except for his claws when i purchased him, after 5 molts he seems to be slightly turning blue and developing red spots along his tail but I'm worried if he will ever turn the bright blue or dark black I see from others pictures, and if so, how long should I expect?

Its amazing looking but I was hoping you could tell me the reason behind this. From your last posts I gather it may possibly be mating colors.

Thank you tremendously for your time and please keep up your highly informative blog.

Sincerely,

Matthew McMullen.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Your guess of mating colors is a good one, though it's hard to tell what species you're working with as there are at least a dozen species with blue morphs; there are likely three or four times as many that just haven't been documented properly yet. One is lucky to see even the label "crayfish" at pet stores.

As to why the drastic change in color has happened so recently, another factor might be at play aside from mating colors. When cohabiting different species, mating colors can mean that the two species are attempting to intimidate one another in order to establish dominance. Since their tankmate's body shape and language aren't as expected, mating colors are a surefire way to show off.

There's no telling what direction their color changes might take unless you were able to identify what species they were; likewise their mating morphs might prove helpful in doing so.

As for worrying about the crays color changes, I would instead recommend that you sit back and watch the fireworks. Animal adaptability is a wonderful phenomenon to watch and, so long as your crays are not violent with one another, you might as well marvel at their chromatic displays.

For the record, species known to have blue color morphs include Cambarus diogenes, gentryi, and monogalensis; Cherax destructor, quadricarinatus, and tenuimanus; Orconectes immunis and obscurus; Pacificastus leniusculus; and Procambarus acutus, alleni, and clarkii.

Freeze-Dried Fiddler Food

2008-03-05T08:00:00.005+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We just brought home 3 freshwater crabs from the pet store and my kids LOVE them, we would really like to take good care of them. The pet store sent home Freeze dried pellets for them and I am desperately looking on the web to see if these are appropriate for them to eat, or what the best food for these liitle guys is. Can you help? Also what kind of healthy behavior should we expect from Ashlyn, Cherry and Galatian?(the crabs not my kids:)

Dawn

Dear Gentle Sir:

Freeze-dried pellets, while not optimal, are just fine for your crabs to eat. They are composed primrily of fish and shellfish offal and sometimes farm runoff as well and so provide nutrients however dried and pressed they might be. Live foods are usually superior because they are not processed and stored, both of which degenerate nutrients. Live foods are also not susceptible to the underhanded practices of big business.

In 1993, the aquarium industry was hit with a wave of strange deaths; thousands of vertebrates and invertebrates alike acted sluggish, then died. Over the course of several weeks animal death climbed some 15% above normal rates and eventually the Foodeaze line of pellets, from the now-defunct Fisheaze company, were blamed.

Investors and aquarium trade companies filed suit against Fisheaze and during the course of the trial the details became horrifyingly clear: Fisheaze had been buying and using not just fish, pork, and horse offal but also manure and farm sewage for their pellet lines, something clearly against industry regulation. The manure contained strains of deadly bacteria that, upon entering water, reactivated. It was like an aquarium Plague.

By the end of the trial, Fisheaze was required to pay out some $2 billion to the industry, the largest such judgement at the time. Perhaps the most disturbing result of this mess was that Fisheaze had invested in several fish farms where the animals were intended for human consumption and was supplying the farms with feed; the Department of Agriculture began investigations into the company before the folded in 1998.

Though nothing like this has since happened, it boldly underlines the importance of knowing the food you give to your crustacean friends comes from a trusted source. Fresh food is not only healthier but generally safer as well, since the responsibility is directly on you and not some process stretched out over thousands of people and tens of thousands of miles.

Glow-in-the-Dark Yabbies

2008-02-20T08:00:00.014+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

My red claw molted last night and came out with white spots on legs and claws as well as a white bad across the tail at a joint. I am wondering if this might be the white spot fungus (possibly caught from the feeder shrimp I buy at the local pet store).

Yabbie is about 3years old now. He lives in a tank with a few other small fish. I guy glass shrimp and sea monkeys once a month or so. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to help him, or if it’s just a sign of his age.

Thank you!

Diana

Dear Gentle Sir:

Unlike your grandfather, shrimp do not get spots as they age. This is plainly a sign of infection, though what your shrimp is infected with is debatable without seeing him in person. If the disease came from the feeder shrimp you purchased it's most likely a fungus, possibly Topicalis albinus, better known as White Spot Disease.

At the time of that article, however, I stated that tetracycline would be ineffective since it only treats bacterial, not fungal, infections. New research (Giles 2007) suggests that tetracycline does indeed have efficacy against albinus, though the mechanism isn't yet understood. Tetracycline is a safer possible solution to White Spot than copper, which is hazardous to invertebrates.

To administer the tetracycline, simply grind the pills using a pill grinder and mix the powder in distilled water, adding one drop a day to your aquarium using an eyedropper. If your cray has holes in his shell from his infection you might want to inquire about Actisite, a thread-like fibrous form of the drug usually used in dentistry; it make have similar applications for crustacean shells.

Though tetracycline is generally safe, one side-effect is that it causes keratin, found in bones and hair, and chitin, found in arthropod shells, to glow under UV light. This isn't a negative, however, as adding a UV to an aquarium is cheap and you and your family could become the envy of the neighborhood with your glow-in-the-dark yabbie.

Marmorkrebs: Das Klonen Kräfisch

2008-02-06T08:00:00.004+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I had an arthropod physiology class and in it we discussed Marmokrebs, a crayfish that clones itself. Apparently it is taking over fresh and brackish water systems in Germany and there is fear that it will overrrun Europe unless a way is found to stop it. How is it possible there is a cloning crayfish? I am curious about this topic, many thanks for answering my query.

Warmest Regards,
Reinhart

Dear Gentle Sir:

This crayfish species, named for its marbled shell, has raised debate in astacology recently, as each and every specimen of Marmorkrebs is molecularly identical; that is, each Marmorkrebs is a clone. Its origins are just as mysterious as its genetic pool, with Marmorkrebs only discovered in the Nineties. It still lacks a scientific name until it can be placed within a genus.

Marmorkrebs reproduces in three unique ways, setting it apart from not only other crayfish but all other crustaceans as well. On a regular cycle it goes in berry, holding a clutch of up to one thousand eggs for just over two weeks. The eggs are fertilized although there is no male contact — all Marmorkrebs are also female. The eggs then hatch and the craybies grow just as any other crayfish young.

The Marmorkrebs also buds, where during a series of several molts in the Summer months extra body parts grow and, at the end of the cycle, a completely new Marmorkrebs splits off and lives indepdenently of the original organism. This is a method employed by simpler organisms, including several classes of worms, sponges, and hydras as well as microorganisms like bacteria and fungi.

Analysis of Marmorkrebs DNA reveals several sequences, particularly in genes controlling reproduction, that are unique among Animalia. Research continues in placing Marmorkrebs within crayfish taxonomy, with one Dutch researcher commenting that the DNA is unusual for a crayfish, let alone an arthropod.

Further study will unlock the secrets of this exotic, mysterious new species. In the meantime most Western countries have placed a moratorium on the shipping or sale of the species due to its potential as a nuisance species, though China is investigating it as a cheap foodstuff.

Cray vs. Frog

2008-01-09T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We have an electric blue crawfish and our frog try'd to eat it! What do we do?????!!??????~~~!@!!!!

Sav123

Dear Gentle Sir:

This is serious business. Crustaceans and amphibians are natural sworn enemies, each trying to devour the other at any given opportunity since the beginning of their lineages. This started in the Devonion, when pisciforms first began their incursions on land, shallow pool-dwelling crustaceans being an abundant and natural prey. Since then, crustacean and amphibian evolution has been an arms race in which each side develops defenses against the other.

In your case, you likely have an odd pair. Most crays in aquariums are either species native to the Americas or the owner's locale, while most aquarium frogs are from Africa, which lacks native crayfish species; the two species in your tank have not encountered one another in millions of years. In this clash your frog and cray are both agressing against one another in order to establish either dominance or dinner.

For your cray's sake, separate them until they are roughly of equal size. Once neither has a clear advantage over the other, they will keep to themselves. You can achieve this by either using separate tanks or installing a tank divider, a cheap solution available at any pet store.

Bloop: A Crustacean Phenomenon?

2008-01-02T08:00:00.015+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

do you know anything about bloop? i learned that it was a sound that the government recorded and that it's from a living creature, but i don't know any more than that. it happened in the ocean near south america, so i figured since you spend time down there you'd know.

thanks,
brock

Dear Gentle Sir:

Bloop was recorded in 1997 not by the United States Navy but instead by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a spying front for the United States military. Originating near 50º S 100º W, some 1,500 kilometres from the Republic of Chile, the sound was recorded by SONAR equipment more than 5,000 kilometres apart. Though researched by both academic and military specialists, no consensus was reached regarding the sound's origin.

A few facts about Bloop were disclosed that continue to intrigue the scientific community. One is that the frequency was outside the range of seismic and volcanic activity. It was, however, within the frequency that biological organisms create. The puzzler there is that the sound was so powerful no living creature, including Blue Whales or the largest known Giant and Colossal Squids, could have produced it.

To produce a sound strong enough to be heard across 5,000 kilometres of ocean at depths averaging four kilometres, the sound would have had to originate at roughly 300dB, loud enough to cause violent hemorrhaging, disorientation, and death in humans. To generate such a powerful sound, the creature would require a body mass of about 200 square meters, larger than even a Blue Whale.

There are few candidates to explain such a creature. The possibility of it being an unknown species of whale is slim, as whales must surface to breathe and an animal one and a half times the size of a Blue Whale would surely have been recorded. Theories about Bloop being a Giant Squid species or the Colossal Squid are without merit, as the largest of either species falls well below the required size and cephalopods also lack organs for generating sound.

One theory that does hold merit is that the creature is a gigantic crustacean. Lobsters and crabs "burp" bubbles of carbon dioxide gas from their gills and often retain the air to belch at other species and to impress potential mates. Comparing the Bloop sound profile to crustacean belches nets the most similarities despite obvious difference in strength.

Should Bloop have been a giant, heretofore unknown crustacean species, it would explain the similarity of the sound to crustacean burping. A crustacean at such depths would need a shell a foot or more thick to protect it from the crushing weight of the ocean, would grow incredibly slowly, and would be part of a breeding population of perhaps just a few dozen individuals.

Oceanographers and acousticians are currently examining new sounds recorded by the USNOAA, including Glop, Blorp, and Poot, that all have similar signatures in hopes of discovering the source of these enigmatic deep-ocean sounds.

FSL: Fiddler Sign Language

2007-12-19T08:00:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

so wat can u tell me abt fiddler crab sign language?

-cherise

Dear Gentle Sir:

Fiddler crabs (Uca sp.), known for the male's oversized claw, communicate by a series of complex movements and gestures. It is thought that Fiddler sign language, or FSL, developed around the same time the oversized claw and associated mating rituals did, some twenty to twenty five million years ago.

Despite the relatively high level of communication, one Uca species can not understand the other's sign language. For the Uca genus, this dictates speciation as two physiologically identical species, such as U. volens and U. spiralis, will not breed or cohabit with one another. Thus signal communication dictates that the two will eventually drift further physically like other, less distantly related species like U. hoh and U. vula.

The lack of communication between species leads to unique behavior in Uca where one species will not only defend their territory from another but will attempt to completely wipe out neighboring Fiddler crabs. Typically one species signs are interpreted as offensive to another, with one study showing an increase in circulation and pheromones when crabs of different species were exposed to one another. In nature this results in different Uca species seeking to wipe out others until only one remains dominant on the beach, allowing for interspecific combat thereafter.

This crustacean genocide is thought to serve as a means of increasing the chances of successful breeding. With up to fifty percent of Fiddler populations reduced during breeding season from predation by fish, bird, monkeys, other crabs, and humans, population density is one way to ensure successful reproduction.

FSL isn't as complex as human sign languages, of course. Fidders, for instance, have no concept of the past or a past tense in their signs. Everything happens in the present tense for a Fiddler. This includes the immediate future. For example, a herd of Fiddlers will begin signing for food as soon as they detect an appropriate scent and will continue this gesture throughout the course of the meal. Likewise females sign for pregnancy before eggs are visible and continue until their young are newly hatched.

Research into the origin and development of FSL continues. A tentative family tree based on similarities and differences in FSL is being worked out, and research at National University in Australia hopes to link it to a molecular data family tree.

Ethiopian Aquaculture

2007-10-10T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

My name is Jerry Bailey and I am just getting started in aquaculture in Ethiopia which is a landlocked country and has no access to salt water. As of now, we are planning to start out farm ponds with Tilapia and Red Claw Crayfish.

I have tried to search for a species of freshwater prawn of commercial size that could complete its entire lifecycle to include hatchery phase in freshwater. I have only read about Macrobrachium Amazonicum as being a possible species but have not found any source of post larvae to experiment with.

Grateful if you could let me know if you know of any total freshwater prawns that reach at least 8 cm in length that I might consider.

Most grateful for your assistance.

Jerry

Dear Gentle Sir:

Before investing in a crayfish farming venture in Ethiopia, consider Africa's dark past: there are no crayfish in Africa today because of a virulent Crayfish Plague that began in the middle of the last millennium.

The Plague originated in the Congo Basin in the 13th or 14th century. Jespersen (1981) cites an origin in Lac Tumba or Lac Mai-Ndombe, while Dench (1984) postulates an origin in the Atlantic. Recent molecular studies by Sibelius (2002) and Schröder (2005) show that the bacteria in question — Aquavirex negropontis — is virtually identical with a non-disease causing bacteria found endemically in coastal lobster populations.

When the Kongo Empire was exposed to European trade, the stage was set for Black River Mold, as it was called then, to spread over the entire continent. By the 18th century only Mozambique and Tanzania had any crayfish populations; by the time of the Great War, modern European colonialism had diminished these populations as well. Only Madagascar, geographically isolated from the continent, has an extant crayfish population.

Today, though farming is done in some areas, crayfish export from Africa is strictly controlled. Farming itself is an expensive prospect as every aspect of it must be carefully monitored and kept completely separate from natural environments to prevent introduction of the Plague to farming stocks.

Today there are few alternatives though research into immunity, both inherent and genetically engineered, is progressing. At this time data concerning M. amazonicum are lacking but some other species seem viable given proper environmental considerations.

Genderqueer Crayfish

2007-10-03T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have a question about the electric blue lobsters. I know that right after they molt, they are kinda pinkish, but what if they stay pinkish for over a week after molting? He isn't eating right but seems healthy. Is it possible that he isn't hardening for some reason? My friend has over 50 blue lobsters, plus he now has hundreds of babies, none of which look pink except right after molting. Is it that the water is too warm for them? I have 2-3" blue lobsters in a 20 gallon tank and they both pretty much avoid each other. There are no signs of fighting and the other blue lobster is blue as can be. Also, should you let them eat their own shell or take it out after they molt? I would appreciate it if you could address this issue for me and give me some tips. Thank you for your time!

Cindy

Dear Gentle Sir:

To address the least important question first, the old shell should be left for the cray to munch on. In this way the crayfish replenishes its low stores of calcium carbonate, which it uses to harden a new shell. Remove it only after the cray ceases to eat it lest it spoil the water.

Your crayfish's change, however, is a much more complicated topic.

Genderqueer theory is one drawn from many traditions, movements, and cultures from the last few thousands of years. Current genderqueer activism and lifestyles deal primarily with equal rights and support in Western and emerging Third World societies, which are almost usually hostile to the concept.

Crayfish who wish to question their physical and self-identified genders don't have it any easier than humans do. Crayfish culture is a harsh, brutal one based on male/female breeding. foodstuff acquisition, and territoriality. As such, violence is inherent to crayfish interaction and a cray that strays outside the male/female opposition might find life difficult.

For example, a recent study done by the Kansas Institute of Astacology housed a population of five Devil Crayfish (Cambarus diogenes) in a hundred gallon tank. Their diet requirements were met adequately and the population was stable. When one female cray was injected with a special chemical and began exhibiting male behavior, the dominant male intervened and both died in brutal combat. The three remaining females then fought for dominance and eventually died of their injuries.

To avoid such turmoil in your own aquaria, keep a keen watch out for genderqueer crays. More obvious signs, such as the shell color change you described, are good tip-offs, but more subtle differences such as cross-gender association (i.e. your male acting like a female or vice versa) are important too.

If you have identified a possible genderqueer, remove it at once if its community is unstable. A solitary cray housed without other crayfish won't have much to worry about but one in a community tank as cited above would be at risk of violent reprisals. A simple five or ten gallon tank with water taken from the original aquarium would work until your cray has sorted out his identity.

Above all else, it is important to remember that your crayfish, despite questioning or adjusting its gender identity, is still a crayfish and as such deserves the same rights and responsibilities as any other cray. Attend to it with dignity and respect to ease its progress down a non-traditional and sometimes scary path.

Quick Cure or Quick Kill?

2007-09-26T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have a Blue Crayfish in my tank with several Cichlids and two Plecos. A recent fish purchase has put my tank in chaos and have already had 3 fish lost to a fungus, parasite, or disease. I purchased a product at my local fish store but it doesn't appear to be doing ANY good. After some research online I have decided to dose my 100 gallon tank with "Quick Cure" which contain malachite gree and formalin. From what I've seen online it may "harm invertebrates." 1) Will my Blue Crayfish be harmed? 2) If he will be harmed, what is the best course of action to take to save my fish and keep my handsome crayfish safe? A quarantine tank? I love your posts. Thank you for your help

Crayfish mom

Dear Gentle Sir:

Quick Cure works by poisoning the less complex organisms in your tank. Plants survive only because of their cell wall, which other organisms lack, and vertebrates have complex enough metabolism to detoxify the active ingredients in Quick Cure. Any invertebrate or fungus will be wiped out.

A quarantine tank will work for to keep your cray out of the toxic soup, but knowing when it's safe to return it to the tank is another matter entirely. The composition of your tank is important to consider.

Do you have a clay substrate? Are the rocks in your tank hard or soft? If you have aquarium plants, do they fix compounds from the water? All of the above may absorb and then slowly leach the Quick Cure back into your water, slowly poisoning your crayfish.

Another alternative would be to remove all the fish from your tank, leaving your crayfish the sole tenant of those premises. You could then add some ghost shrimp and have a crustacean-only tank. An aquarium without fish is an aquarium without problems, and all the better for your cray.

Crayfish Abuse & Neglect

2007-09-12T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Is it possible for a fresh water blue lobster to survive in a mini tank without a water pump? A heater? or both together?

Mitchyslik3

Dear Gentle Sir:

Is it possible for you to survive in a broom closet without circulation or heat? Or both? If you have a question about your crayfish's living conditions, reflect upon your own personal needs first.

A blue lobster can survive many challenging environs when it needs to. For the purposes of petkeeping, however, maintaining an optimal environment is important for both your pincered friend and your enjoyment. Without proper heat, light, oxygen, and food your cray will suffer mentally and physically.

The only time it's appropriate for a cray to live in subhuman conditions — such as what you described above — are when breeding, rearing, moving, or aspunishment. Unless your cray has misbehaved in a manner befitting isolation, don't even think of putting it in an uncirculated, unheated "mini" tank.

Just remember to always ask yourself this question: What has my cray done to deserve time in the brig? Otherwise, that's where you might end up after you've been convicted of crayfish abuse or neglect.

Invasion of the Sideswimmers

2007-08-15T08:00:00.002+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I was was in a boat on Lake Erie and I threw a bucket down on a 150ft. of rope and dredged for a while. I wanted to see if I could find any Zebra Mussels. I found some, as well as a strange white crustacean that looks like a cross between a shrimp and a water flea. What the heck! I had no idea anything like that lived in the lake. I will never go swimming here again. What was it?

Thanks,

Terrence

Dear Gentle Sir:

What you encountered was Gammarus tigrinus, commonly known as the Sideswimmer. This species is native to the North Atlantic Coast but has been introduced to the Great Lakes in the last decade in a controversial effort to limit the Zebra Mussel population.

Instead, the Sideswimmers have joined the mussel in the benthic zone of the lake, feeding upon valuable plankton. Fish populations, such as the small mouth bass, are in a freefall thanks to this meddling by scientists.

One positive aspect of the infestation of this invasive species is that the lake, heavily polluted by post-World War II industry and subsequently cleaned up by the Zebra Mussel in the Eighties, is now even more pristine. Thanks to the Sideswimmer, you can now enjoy a glass of water straight out of the lake.

Measures to control the Sideswimmer population are in order. A genetically engineered virus is being tested that would render adult Sideswimmers infertile. Wildlife officials are also stocking a Bluegill/Pumpkinseed hybrid (Lepomis gibbosus × macrochirus) in hopes it will eat the Sideswimmer.

As these silent underwater wars go on, rest assured the lake is still safe to swim in. These tiny creatures generally don't come to shore, instead preferring the dark silence of the bottom. Perhaps you'd like to take the Sideswimmer home and study them, along the some Zebra Mussels, in your aquarium!

What Makes a Rusty Crayfish Red?

2007-08-08T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i caught a rusty crayfish and my cousin says its red because it is in hot water. i think it's red because its parents were red. my paw paw says it's because god made it that way. who's right? what makes a rusty crayfish red?

scooter

Dear Gentle Sir:

The Rusty Crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) is red because that is its natural color morph; that is, it is red due to its genetics just as your skin color was inherited from your parents and their parents, etc. This is called a heritable trait.

Orconectes rusticus became red, however, because its ancestor habited areas with high concentrations of ferrous oxide, commonly known as rust, in the water. Because of this the Orconectes expressed red and orange colors and since they matched the environment better these color morphs eventually became endemic to their population. This resulted in the speciation of rusticus.

Today you can hunt Rusty crayfish with a metal detector thanks to their high iron content and doctors often prescribe the species to anemic women during pregnancy as well. One may even find carnival-goers during the Mardi Gras dressed in costumes made of scrap metal painted red replete with refrigerator magnets honoring bebe rouillé, the little red bug.

Can Crayfish Get Goitre?

2007-08-01T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I can see the need for iodine in salt water or brackish water animals, but fresh water crays have no natural source of iodine. Has anyone seen any studies that prove it is beneficial?

In the shrimp world we've established that in small doses it dooesn't hurt, but long term keeping in side by side tanks have shown no benifit at all.

badflash

Dear Gentle Sir:

In marine environments, the level of dissolved minerals generally satisfies a crustacean's need for iodine. Fresh water, however, lacks the dissolved minerals and crayfish, as well as other crustaceans, may experience iodine deficiency. This can result in a number of disorders.

Goitre, as you mentioned, is one such consequence of hypoiodinism. In crays this manifests itself as a large goiter just the under the head segment, often making the cray look as if its head were about to explode. Native North American tribes would avod eating such specimens, as their flesh was loose and sickly; animals too avoid bulbous-headed crays.

Sluggishness and mental retardation are other symptoms. If your cray is acting slow, weak, or generally lethargic, lack of iodine may be the cause. Likewise, a cray that eats its own appendages or feces may suffer from iodine deficiency.

Some crays have developed numerous methods to obtain it in other ways. One tropical species combs the brackish deltas of the Amazon and its tributaries for kelp detritus with antennas adapted to detect iodine molecules from up to eight kilometers (five miles) away.

If your cray is not lucky enough to have these adaptations, there are ways to introduce iodine to your aquarium. The simplest way is to add iodized table salt. Add one ounce a week until symptoms subside.

If your cray is sensitive to salt, add pure iodine crystals to the water. To obtain these, empty a bottle of iodine tincture onto a flat plastic container and leave in the sun. When the alcohol and water have evaporated, use a straight razor to scrape the remaining crystals into your cray's tank. Stop when the water begins to take a lavender hue.

I Think My Fiddlers Hooked Up

2007-07-25T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I recently found myself babysitting a fiddler crab. I set up a small tank for him with rocks to climb and shells to hide in. I bought another crab and the only one I could find in my small city was missing one claw. I’ve had them together now for about one month and the new crab seemed very dominate, hogging food and chasing the other away whenever he got close, so I assumed I had a male. Well, last night they both holed up in the same large shell, which was a shock for me. Today she is hiding out. Should I be concerned? I’m afraid I may have a pregnant crab showing up soon. If that is the case, what do I do with all of the eggs? I read she will have hundreds of thousands! I’m not prepared for that at all! I’ve put a lot of effort into saving the life of the male and after reading your website, I do think I need to do more for the crabs. I’ve grown quite attached to them.

Thank you!
Vicki

Dear Gentle Sir:

It appears as though your Fiddlers have "hooked up," the scientific term for mating. Do not confuse the term with current popular teen slang, however. Fiddlers actually do hook up using their specially adapted swimmerets, kept hidden within their curled tail, to grasp on to one another as the male forces his sperm load into the female.

There are a few ways to tell if your female is pregnant. One is to watch for odd behavior. If she begins eating unusual foodstuffs, such as aquarium plants, gravel, or her own feces, something has definitely changed physiologically within her. Depression and mood swings are another telltale sign. Is she staying in her cave longer than usual? Another way to detect pregnancy is to watch for mucus forming on her underside, which precipitates before her eggs flow down from her ovipositor.

So what do you do if your female is indeed pregnant? Comfort her. Her man has kicked her out and will no offer care for her children — in fact, he may try to eat them! Make sure she has plenty of nice landings she can climb out of the water onto and many deep caves she can disappear into.

Also supply her with round-the-clock food. Fiddler crabs are detrivores, meaning they'll eat just about anything as long as it's small. Makes trips to your local food co-op or farmer's market to procure organic veggie leftovers from their trucks and bins. Food from supermarkets are often sprayed with chemicals and wax, which are definite no-nos for a pregnant crustacean.

Once she's in berry (visibly carrying eggs) the eggs will hatch within two weeks. At this point it's time to decide how to isolate her and her brood from the other creatures in the tank, who will without doubt see the crab larva as tasty treats. You can relocate her, which threatens her and her brood with new water chemistry, move the other creatures out of the tank, which may be convenient depending on the number of tankmates, or install a partition which limits her space but makes life for the aquarium owner the easiest.

The children will need fed nothing special in particular since in their earliest stages they'll eat microscopic algae and detritus. As they settle down and begin molting, however, give them a small crumble of flake food daily. In some cases, where the crabs were isolated from food for too long, scraping your skin or shaking dandruffy hair into the tank will give them enough nourishment for the time being.

After the crabs begin to grow, only a small amount of the total will make it to adolescence. Use the Chimwich-Hayes equation to arrive at the ideal number of crustaceans for your aquarium and use the Internet to sell the others. Some species of Fiddler crab young can net as much as 69¢ per pound!

Good luck to you and your Fiddlers. Motherhood is a special blessing indeed.

Crayfish vs. Blue Lobster

2007-07-18T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I am a soon-to-be crustacean mother and I have an empty 100 gallon tank I won a few years ago I hope to add a Blue Lobster and Fiddler crab to, in addition to Ciclids and hopefully a Pleco. However, I'm quite confused by the whole Lobster vs. Crayfish information I've been getting online and in stores. Are ALL Blue Lobsters, Crayfish? And visa versa? Or is there a diffference? If so how do you tell? My tank is certainly large enough to sustain a 2 pound lobster (the size the store clerk told me the Lobster, NOT CRAYFISH mind you, would grow), and I don't want my children fighting or eating each other! I am also concerned my Lobster or Crab will eat or attack my bottom swimming Pleco, although I hope the size of the tank will allow for each to claim it's own territory. Thank you so much for all the wonderful info.

Concerned Mother To Be

Dear Gentle Sir:

Lobster and crayfish are the non-scientific names for different, though closely related, groups of decapod crustaceans. Crayfish refers to three families of freshwater species. Lobster, on the other hand, has traditionally represented the Homarus genus, which includes the saltwater American and European lobsters. The term is also used for other marine species of various types.

In the aquarium trade, exotic animals sell for higher prices than mundane native animals, and so to advertise their animal shops often blur an animal's name. To directly answer your question, all freshwater lobsters sold in pet stores are crayfish. Electric Blue Lobsters are almost always either blue color morphs of Procambarus clarkii or Orconectes alleni.

The connection gets muddier more recently, however, as dying the cray's water blue or subjecting the cray to special lighting which causes the cray to temporarily change color. In some cases dealers actually inject blue dye into the cray which shortens the cray's lifespan considerably.

True blue crays are rare in nature but are being bred more reliably as time goes on. In turn, the price of (true) blue crays should fall, but the aquarium industry is a notably lavicious one and prices may remain high. The fraud inherent in the cray trade makes for a tricky and sometimes dangerous foray into crustaphilia. Approach blue lobsters with skepticism and care.

How to Be a Good Molt-Sitter

2007-07-11T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Just two days ago I purchased a Watermelon Fiddler at a local pet store. Currently, it is lying on its back motionless. I have read your posts on molting, and I would like to know how long it typically takes for a fiddler crab to molt. How long I should wait before I consider it to be deceased? It has a strange arm-like structure rising from its underside. Thank you for your time, I appreciate your advice and love your site.

-Josh

Dear Gentle Sir:

I regret to inform you that your crab has died during a bad molt.

Death by ecdysis is a common way for crustaceans to bite it. One of the risks of ecdysis is that the process may leave the animal in a lethal, half-molted state as your crab was. The only way to ensure the molt goes as well as possible is sitting, or closely monitoring the molting process.

While sitting your crab, you'll need a notebook and pen, a camera (digital or otherwise), some sort of audio recording device, a flashlight, fresh bottled water, and an intimate knowledge of the molting process. You also can not molt yourself while sitting for your creature during its molt.

Your best bet if the crustacean appears distressed is to remain quietly watching it; molting is a slow process and reaching in with the surgical scissors too soon is just as harmful as doing so too late. This is the classic "do no harm" vs. "don't just sit there, do something!" dichotomy.

All difficulties aside, here are some general tips for molting:

Turn the tank off or, if they're set to a dimmer, down. Your cray will need to relax during the molting process.
Keep inquisitive or predatory creatures away during and after your cray's metamorphosis. They will smell the cray's condition and attack.
Do not offer food, as the cray won't eat during the molt and any food in the tank will spoil.
Keep your filtration system turned down as the suction can crush your soft cray faster than you would be able to rescue it.
Play nature music. Underwater recordings mimic the birth process which is similar to your cray's molt.

Good luck and remember to watch our for that "third arm" that is the telltale sign of a molt gone bad.

The Clawed Ant Crayfish

2007-06-20T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Yesterday I happened across a strange little creature that I was hoping you would be able to identify. I had never seen anything like it before, so I will describe it the best I can in hopes that you will be able to shed some light on this mystery.

At first, it looked like an ant crawling around at my feet, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that this ant-like critter had what appeared to be lobster claws. Is it even possible for crustaceans to be that small? Or am I just trying to make an erroneous connection?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

-Steve Kissinger

Dear Gentle Sir:

I assume you were speaking of an experience in a creek, pond, or river?

If so, the creature you observed that resembled a small clawed ant is none other than the Clawed Ant Crayfish (Pacifastacus myrminex), a member of a wide and varied Californian genus that includes several small cave and aquifer species. The myrminex is one of a few that lives topside.

So named for its small size and dark coloration, the Clawed Ant Crayfish lives in slow-moving creeks with sandy bottoms. It is a detrivore, feeding on tiny organic matter such as algae and insect larva. They grow to no more than two centimeters but their claws are, by proportion, the largest of any cray species.

This relatively uncommon species is endangered due to their high sensitivity to chemical pollutants. Indeed, until the Eighties, many people dumped ant poison in their watersheds thinking they were combatting their ant problems. Instead, they decimated the Clawed Ant population.

Today these gentle crustaceans are making a comeback thanks in part to environmental awareness and strict pollution laws. Please be sure to leave the Clawed Ant Crayfish unmolested should you observe one.

孫子兵法

2007-06-13T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Hello, I have two Johanii cichlids, 2 kenyi, 1 mbuna, 1 regular pleco, a Chinese algae eater, a red rainbow shark, and a fire mouth American cichlid. These are all in a 20 gallon tank I plan to upgrade to a 75 this coming winter.

I would like to add an electric blue lobster my only fear is what it will do to my pleco as it likes to dwell on the bottom as well as my Chinese is this highly not recommended? What are your thoughts?

Tom

Dear Gentle Sir:

That's quite a tankful you have there. For those size fishes, the seventy-five gallon tank is a must. If you can afford the extra expense, get a hundred gallon tank. The Chinese Algae-Eater alone can grow to gigantic proportions.

A crayfish in such a crowded tank is anything but a good idea; in fact, it guarantees at least some altercations if not mutually assured destruction.

Once you acquire your new tank, an Electric Blue Lobster or any other kind of crayfish could live happily and safely so long as you follow some simple rules, such as providing hiding spots, such as jars and pipes; plant coverage, which you can purchase at your local pet store; and feeding your cray high quality food.

You may want to find a steady supply of live earthworms, leeches, maggots, and shrimp. A nice steak once in a while is a good idea, and poached eggs will help keep the cray's shell shiny.

With these guidelines in mind, your cray should be able to live a tumultuous, violent life in your new aquarium. To that end I recommend Sun Tzu's The Art of War, a valuable strategy guide for both you and your cray that addresses combat and living in hostile situations.

For example, your cray may succeed in eating all of your fish, in which case he could enjoy complete and total peace not to mention quite a few nice meals. But after that, in the period of peace, his skills would begin to degrade and any new threat would surely topple him.

Other dangers lie ahead before victory, however. Your cray should learn to bow low and fart to the emperor, or in this case, the Chinese Algae-Eater; thus, hiding spaces are important. An empty sack fills no bellies; therefore, keep your cray well-fed, etc.

With these points in mind, and this book in hand, your cray will acclimate to your aquarium community as a sharp warrior of the claw.

The Roman Sewer Crab

2007-06-06T17:30:00.002+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

recently i had the pleasure of rome and there were these cute little freshwater crabs that look like fiddlers that walk around the streets eating garbage and being silly. i asked a native what they were and he said sono greci and spit. what does this mean?

thanks,
phillip

Dear Gentle Sir:

This crab goes by a number of common names. For example, historians know it as the Etruscan Crab or Trajan's Crab while Sicilians call it the Greek Bug. It's generally known as the Roman Crab throughout Italy and Europe in general while local children call it a sewer bug. Its scientific name is Potamon fluviatile, which means little river-goer. Its characteristics are just as interesting as its names.

This crab was imported from Macedonia at Trajan's behest during the Cancercalia, Rome's pagan crab festival. Wishing to impress the populace, he had the crabs hauled into the center of his forum and dumped on open ground. Children ran after the crabs, catching them, while their parents cooked and ate them. Some of the crabs inevitably escaped and lived in the sewers the Etruscans had built centuries before and have thrived there ever since.

Compared to populations in nearby lakes, rivers, and ponds, the sewer crabs are more robust. Just last year, a survey on the crabs revealed that they are, on average, one and one half times the size of non-sewer populations. The reason probably lies in the fact that the omnivorous scavengers have an easier time finding food in the old sewage system. Indeed, a few specimens of this species kept as pets reach the large size of sixty centimeters.

Moving My Tadpole Shrimp

2007-05-30T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I am soon going to move to a new house, and I have a longtail tadpole shrimp (Triops longicaudatus) at home in a small plastic aquarium (10 cm by 10 cm by 15 cm). Short as its life is, the tadpole shrimp might live to see our moving day. Now, I have started planning how I will move him; I have a smaller jar with a lid where I once kept tadpole shrimps, and I'm going to wash it with distilled water and then put him in the jar along with some food. Do you happen to know how I can move him safely, if there is a way at all? It is about 5 km from my current home to the new house.

Sincerely,
Mikhail Makogonov

Dear Gentle Sir:

The travel itself will not present as much of a challenge as moving him from tank to jar to tank again will. The same water from his tank must be used in the jar, but in doing that you disturb any silt and leftovers and old shells still in the water, which will suffocate your shrimp. So what is the solution to this catch-22?

Freezing.

Yes, the simple act of freezing your shrimp might be the thing to save it during the move. As with crayfish, lowering the body temperature of the crustacean in question slows its metabolism to the point where it doesn't need to breathe, eat, sleep, or perform any other metabolic function. In this hypothermic stasis, the shrimp can be taken great distances while incurring no injury.

Freezing the shrimp follows much the same steps as freezing a crayfish. However, if you're only traveling 5km, you may want to just chill him. This would require removing any heat sources from his tank — lights and heaters — and allowing the water to fall to room temperature. Afterward, you must then place the shrimp and water from the tank.

Using a banana boat, mayonnaise jar, or some other small but sealable container, scoop up enough clean water from the tank for your shrimp to swim in, followed by the shrimp itself. Immediately place the container in a cooler with ice and transport. It is important to estimate how long the trip will last since the cooler won't prevent the shrimp from warming past an hour or so.

As for the tank, now is the time to clean it. Do not remove the water, however. Simply clean the tank of all debris and then, once in your new home, let it set until any remaining dust has settled. Afterward you can dump your frosty friend back into his home and watch him regain motility. Be sure to keep an eye on him for odd behavior, but he should return to normal within a couple hours.

Failing all of that, you could just flush him down the toilet.

Decorating for Fiddlers

2007-05-23T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i am going to buy two fiddler crabs and i want to know the best way to decrorate their tank

Anonymous

Dear Gentle Sir:

Fiddler crabs are gregarious creatures who love companionship and a lively environment in which they can explore. So on top of the stones and gravel and rocks and plants that any Fiddler tank should provide, you can also feel free to liven it up in a number of ways.

Fiddlers love light. In addition to the default imitation sunlight lamps you can mix things up a bit with colored bulbs. For Christmas, try a red and a green bulb, and for Easter purple and yellow. Halloween might be a fun time to try out a black, or "UV" bulb that can bring out some interesting patterns in your crabs' shells. To recreate sunset on a Hawaiian beach, try GE's new pink bulbs that produce a soft, dying-sun glow that can send you and your crabs straight to the tropics. The only thing missing will be the piña colada.

Underwater caves and grottos are important too: your Fiddlers need to feel safe, secure, and at home. A meeting place created by conjoining pipes or crevices can give them a secret meeting area in which they can molt or mate.

Filling the tank with free-floating plants enables your crabs to enjoy hours of acrobatic fun, jumping and floating from one bunch of plants to another. And if the plants include an extra crayfish or shrimp, all the more fun! Just make sure the crays or shrimps aren't larger than your crabs or you will be left with a Fiddler holocaust.

Posters of teen idols can augment the morale of your tank. After reaching breeding size, the Fiddler lives to interact and breed on the beach. This perpetual childhood can be celebrated by using collectible trading cards as "posters" taped to the outside of your tank for the crabs to enjoy. Kirk Cameron, Scott Baio, the Coreys, and Michael J. Fox are all appropriate choices. Cards with their visages can be had on eBay for little more than the cost of shipping.

With these ideas in mind, the possibilities for aquarium decoration are endless. Just recently I set up a Fiddler crab tank with pink lights, rooted plants, and a couple trading cards of A.C. Slater and Zach Morris in the background to recreate the Malibu Sands episodes of Saved by the Bell. The Fiddlers have never had more fun!

Jamaican Crab Festival

2007-05-16T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I'm going to Jamaica this week for this crab festival thing my friend has gone to before. do you know what it's all about? i want to get stupid drunk and eat crab all week.

thanks,

antoine

Dear Gentle Sir:

It's that time of year, in the Ides of May, when local populations in Jamaica gather to celebrated the natural wonder of the mangrove crab's fantastic journey to the sea during the breeding season.

Mangrove crabs are the many species that inhabit forests and swamps near ocean shores. In Jamaica, this means about thirteen species from three different families. The crabs range from grey to green to red, and some have adapted color or shell patterns to match tree bark, leaves, and even fruit.

In the Spring, the crabs molt into their breeding phase which is often marked by bright color patterns or additional spikes or mottling of their shell. One species even grows an additional set of foreclaws during this time.

After their molt, the crabs begin migrating from their mangrove home to the beach, where they will congregate and mate for a period of only seventy-two hours.

During their migration, the crabs walk overland, covering the surface with the clattering of their chitinous legs. During pre-Columbian times, the native Carib tribe held fertility rites. Today, commerce and business stop for the three days of crab travel and the locals take part in helping the animals toward the sea.

Jamaicans consider it bad luck to kill or harm a crab during this period and contests are held to see which child can collect the most trapped or endangered crabs and do not eat any seafood during the week in observance of this holiday.

Harming or molesting crabs during this time is considered a criminal offense, so Americans traveling to Jamaica are advised to follow the letter of the law. Sorry, but eating crab during your vacation seems like a bad idea.

Do Crayfish Have Souls?

2007-05-09T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

This morning I woke up and walked over to my tank to find my crayfish not moving attached to a plant. I used the net to pull him out and while he is moving occassionally, he is pretty still. Is he about to molt or has he passed on?

Thank you for your time.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Indeed, your cray has passed on, or as some in the profession called it, "crossed over." What hasn't been established at this time, however, is whether crustaceans have a soul to enjoy some sort of pleasant afterlife with. It is a long, ugly debate that is still currently raging within crustaceology circles today.

Most recently Pope John Paul II announced that animals do posses divine existence beyond this world. The sticky point, however, is that since the word "animal" as used by non-scientists usually only refers to amphibians and their descendants, do arthropods, and therefore crustaceans, possess divine essence?

Current research by crustaceologist Dr. Henry Philamore has further compounded the issue; he published a paper regarding strange electrical emissions from crayfish upon expiration which he claims to be evidence of a soul escaping the cray's body. Opponents to the theory claim it is only a maelstrom of electrical activity in the cray's nervous system before death and nothing more.

As the debate continues, pet owners can bet safely and treat their dead friend in the manner most comfortable to them. Some flush their crays down a toilet while others bury them in the back yard. One young girl actually made a biodegradable coffin from a shoebox complete with a tissue-paper tuxedo and tophat for her cray; the ceremony gave her the closure she needed and the coffin and its contents were decomposed completely within a year.

The choice between a flush or funeral is entirely up to the owner of the departed crustacean and their own personal religious or philosophical beliefs. I wish you well in this time of sorrow, gentle sir.

Hermit Crab Nudity

2007-04-25T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

don't you think hermit crabs when they are out of the shell are disgusting? they gross me out

alison

Dear Gentle Sir:

The hermit crab is an ancient creature representing the superfamily Paguroidea and its seven families that has existed for some 70 million years.

In the hermit crab's unique evolution it came to depend on ammonite and gastropod shells to serve as auxiliary protection. As they evolved, however, their tails became completely soft and the hermits then needed to house their now-vulnerable abdomens within shells. Only the Coconut Crab (Birgus latro) is capable of roaming free.

Humans first noticed the hermits' "nudity" and exploited its potential symbolism over 30,000 years ago when tribes of aborigines in Australia used them in fertility rituals. The men of the tribes would hold a crab to their genitals where it would clasp on with its claws. They would then dance about until a woman gave them a shell, into which the hermit would move.

As clothed, shameful human beings, any animal that appears "naked" — be it a shaved dog, a shedding snake, or a hermit after molting — unnerves and distracts us. But unlike we humans, other animals don't perceive nudity. The only animal with a problem here is the human one.

I recommend you spend some time with your hermit completely nude. Strip completely naked and take your hermit out of his terrarium. Stroke his shell and antennae and tickle his chin. Let him, in turn, crawl around on your prone body: the arch of your back, the crease of your upper thigh, your underarm.

As you explore one another's bodies realize that clothes are just another version of the hermit crab's shell, temporary and deceptive, and that shame of nudity is a yoke of societal concern — not one for you and your crab.

Why Are Crays Eating My Waste?

2007-04-18T17:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I specialise in waste treatment facility discharges, inspecting large-volume fluid discharge systems to ensure that everything is running smoothly in terms of mechanical structures, flow paths, and artificial and environmental blockages in flow systems.

Crayfish have begun to make their way up into the facilities. They occasionally need to be purged when the crayfish buildup becomes too dense. If crays were there just to harvest nutrients from the waste, why is it that is no other wildlife to be seen other than these crays?? I am stumped.

Best regards,

Benjie Saunders

Dear Gentle Sir:

Your problem is a puzzling one. You don't mention your geography, but crayfish in general are opportunistic scavengers and so would be attracted to any palatable biomass which became available in their habitat. The factor that does not make sense is the human feces, which crays do not regard as food.

Despite the fact that crayfish feed on rotting organic material, they are not coprophages. The bulk of human feces is bacterial matter and that, combined with the fact that the human gut is efficient at absorbing nutrients from food before it is passed, leaves only a few possibilities to explain your cray problem.

One is that the waste you are processing is not simply solid human waste. Are there perhaps cat or dog feces in the mix? Their high protein content would attract crays. Has there been a large epidemic of diarrhea recently? Undigested materials passed in leaky stools would afford the cray nutrients by the gallon.

Perhaps the best measure is to chemically examine the sludge and, once certain properties that might attract crays are established, track down the source of the attraction. In the meantime, a shovel or spade and a good tight wetsuit are in order. Good luck!

Crustacean Acne: White Spot Disease

2007-04-11T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

My shrimp Arty has white spots they look like pimples i think he is embarrassed because he doesn't eat much and twitches a lot. please help if you can i want him to grow up big so i can eat him.

dirk

Dear Gentle Sir:

Your shrimp does not have acne; in fact, crustaceans are immune to that disease thanks to their tough shells. Instead, your shrimp has what is known commonly as crustacean acne or bug blight, but is known in veterinary circles as White Spot Disease.

White Spot Disease is caused by Topicalis albinus, a fungus not unrelated to the band of fungi that cause our own Athlete's Foot and ringworm. In crustaceans, the fungus grows in the soil and during the warm months releases spores into ponds, streams and lakes where they then infect crustaceans.

The fungus enters through the mouth parts or any holes or abrasions in the shell. After it has infected its host, the fungus enters a secondary life-cycle where it releases spores to the lake or stream through the crustacean's exoskeleton, where the fungus then finds its way back into the soil. The spores are the small white spots we see in our pets.

The only treatment for White Spot is copper, which kills invertebrates in high enough concentrations. The trick is avoid killing your shrimp at the same time. Begin by droppering in copper aquarium medicine a few drops at a time. Use a snail as your "canary," as it will die when the concentration is high enough to kill the fungus but before your crustaceans succumb.

Another tactic is to remove the infected crustacean from your tank, scrub it with low-grit sandpaper or pumice stone, and restore it to a fresh change of water. Some owners of large lobsters and crabs have used electric grinders as well. If the crustacean is too sick or young, however, the abrasive nature of this treatment may well tear it to pieces. Use caution when scrubbing!

One thing to keep in mind is that crustaceans with White Spot Disease are highly toxic. Never ingest one even after thorough boiling. You may catch an internal form of the fungus, a serious and potentially chronic medical condition requiring copper treatment that can result in topical patina.

How Can I Tell My Cray's Gender?

2007-03-28T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have two fresh water blue lobsters and I hope to breed them. I can't tell if there male or female. Can you help me determine their gender? How can you tell if they are male or female? Also, does it matter if one is about 1/8 of an inch smaller than the other?

Mitch

Dear Gentle Sir:

Unfortunately, checking a cray's gender is not as easy as lifting its legs and peeking. It involves being able to classify your cray by species, molting phase, and health. It's no surprise that even most professionals can only guess at gender and typically use breeding pools instead of breeding pairs.

Knowing your cray's species is the first step: Do you have a Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) or a Red Bayou Crayfish (Procambarus kentii)? Without first knowing the species, gender identification becomes difficult, if not impossible, as we shall see below.

A crayfish's phase is the next important thing to know. A phase is simply a morphological structure the cray adopts for mating. Their phase changes at molts and comes during breeding season. Crays exposed to videos of mating pairs have also molted into a breeding phase.

The structural differences are unique among genera and species. For instance, a male Red Jaconda Cray (Cancerita rojoña) during non-breeding Phase I resembles a female Clouded Cray (Cancerita nublado), a closely related species. As you can see, this gets complicated.

Overall health is one last factor. Obviously, a cray whose appendages have been chewed off completely will be difficult to sex, as will one which is too small to study closely. Also, not all cray species exhibit sexual dimorphism, so size isn't a good identifier unless you first discern the species.

One method of sexing crays scientists have had some success with has been taking cray whose gender is known, grinding it into a paste, and releasing the paste into a holding tank with other crays of the same species. The crays that respond first will be members of the opposite gender to the ground cray, as they respond to the pheremones in the offal.

Good luck identifying your cray's species, gender, and phase. If you're lucky you'll have a well-known species you can identify quickly and without much mess.

Why Does My Cray Change Colors?

2007-03-21T17:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have two electric blue lobsters and when I got them they were blue but now they seem to be brown with a little orange here and there. What would cause this: Could they be molting and how can I tell. How long does it take for them to molt?

Thanks,

Tracy

Dear Gentle Sir:

Cray color can be influenced by a number of factors, including genetics, environment, breeding, and lighting.

If the cray is genetically blue, it will remain blue for its life, though its shade may vary. As noted in other columns, crays can be bred for different colors and patterns. One notable new color morph in Procambarus clarkii is called the "Ice Morph," where the cray is entirely white save for its eyes and resembles an albino or a cave species. It is rare and goes for hundreds of dollars.

Sometimes crays will change color slightly to match their environment. Again, the Procambarus clarkii is highly adaptable and can be naturally found with red, orange, brown, green, and gray color morphs, all to match their environments. A cray living in dense weeds will tend towards green while one living in a creek with heavy iron deposits will grow orange. You may find a cray that changes from light to dark or vice versa depending on your tank lighting and gravel shade.

During mating season, the cray will molt in anticipation of the coming intercourse and exhibit color changes. This is called the second, or mating, phase of the cray's color patterns. The Orconectes rusticus will change from a dull tan to a dark grey with vivid red, white, and black stripes on its claws. Cambarides coccus, the Peacock Cray, turns from a dark brown color to a motley of yellow, green, red, and blue spots before it sets out to find a mate. The next molt after mating season will put them back into their first color phase.

Lighting can do some spectacular things to your crayfish too. Using fluorescent lights that mimic natural sunlight, the cray is likely to take on stronger hue and vibrancy. Using old incandescent lights can result in more muted tones, and colored incandescence can alter the undertone of the cray. Using Day-Glo lights will result in crays that glow in the dark, giving off an eery psychedelic luminance. One species of cray even phosphoresces due to the deposits of the mineral in the water where it lives, which helps constitute its shell.

To answer your question directly, unless your cray is crawling out of its shell it's not actively molting but color changes can indeed happen directly after molts: The changes have been there all along underneath its old shell waiting to come out. Think of the cray's new colors as the real him opening up to the world saying, "This is just who I am!"

The Highland Lobster, Homarus Hebridum

2007-03-14T17:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

My family are Scotch-Irish and I am a huge crayfish fanatic. Since it's almost St. Patrick's Day, I was hoping you could tell me about the subspecies of the European Lobster that lives near northern Great Britain.

Thanks,
Brian MacGliomach

Dear Gentle Sir:

The lobsters of northern Britain are currently in taxonomic flux.

They differ from other populations of European lobsters by being somewhat larger and greener. It is thought that the cooler waters of the North Sea and North Channel have made the populations there hardier. There is debate as to whether they should be classified as a species (Homarus hebridum) or as a subspecies of the European lobster.

These lobsters also have incredibly long life-spans. One specimen captured was 2 meters long and weighed 80 kilograms and is thought to have been over 350 years old. Most European lobsters live about 50 years at most.

Behaviorally, the populations around northern Britain exhibit unique characteristics. During the mating season in the Spring, the males of each population gather at a certain point on the sea floor. No one yet understands how they know where to navigate to, as the location changes each year. There they fight one another until only one remain.

When the corpses are tallied and only one remains, the final lobster has such a powerful life force that it then proceeds to mate with all of the females in the region for days on end. At the end of this sexual spree it buggers off to live a peaceful life, dying alone but knowing that millions of its progeny will soon flood the water column as plankton.

Molecular research continues in hopes of one day decoding the secret of this population's unique characteristics.

The New Caledonian Neoglyph

2007-03-08T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I read about some ancient lobster that was found near Australia. What can you tell me about it? Is it really a "living fossil?"

Thanks!!!
Toni

Dear Gentle Sir:

Discovered in the remote sea near New Caledonia, the creature you refer to — the New Caledonian Neoglyph — has captivated scientists and laymen alike.

Discovered in 2005 and described in a 2006 paper, the new species represents an extant type of crustacean thought to have gone extinct long ago. Indeed, it has many interesting behavioral and physiological characteristics that will make it important in understanding pleocymate taxonomy in years to come.

The term "living fossil," however, is a bit of a misnomer. It actually just means that a certain organism has changed very little over long spans of time. The scientific term for this is "archeomorph," which means "ancient form."

A sister species, the Fenix Lobster (Neoglyphea inopinata) was discovered early last century and together with the N. neocaledonia represent a group of crustacrans thought to have gone extinct some 50 million years ago in the Eocene. The glyphids have eyes suited for scouring the benthos, or deep-sea floor, and specially-modified chelicerae for picking through the cold detritus at the bottom of the ocean.

To the casual observer, the Neoglyph resemble a cross between a shrimp or prawn and a lobster, and indeed scientists believe it is an ancient lineage early in decapod evolution closely related to early lobsters or shrimp groups, possibly dating from almost 400 million years ago. Molecular testing will soon place the family taxonomically. It is thought to belong with Reptantia.

Several specimens of the New Caledonian Neoglyph are now on display at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra, Australia. The zoo is attempting to initiate a breeding program for the creatures.

Meet the Larsen Ice Shrimp

2007-03-06T18:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Is it true that someone named a shrimp after gary larson, the guy who drew the far side cartoon?

thanks,
w. "pappy" brimley

Dear Gentle Sir:

While there is a shrimp called Larsen, it's not named for the cartoonist but instead an Antarctic habitat recently revealed to science.

After the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed in early 2002, scientists discovered a completely new ecosystem untouched for the last 12,000 years, along with a completely new decapod species. Called the Larsen Ice Shrimp until it can be classified, this crustacean has the uncanny ability to freeze and unfreeze itself within seconds in order to dodge predators and conserve energy during the hard winter months.

The Ice Shrimp uses its freezing abilities by means of alcohol, which it produces from foodstuffs in small quantities and circulates throughout its body. When it is threatened, it releases the alcohol through its anus, which causes its body to freeze solid. The alcohol free in the water also serves to disorient predators. When danger has passed, the shrimp releases a chemical that rapidly converts stored food into alcohol, defrosting it.

In the Winter season, from March through August, the Ice Shrimp enters two different metabolic states in order to conserve energy. In torpor, it remains viable but motionless, simply waiting for food to come along rather than scouting for it. If it has gone more than a month without food, it will bury itself in the substrate of the ocean floor and then freeze itself until September, when the Summer season begins and food becomes more abundant.

Scientists are now studying the Larsen Ice Shrimp in hopes of more effective treatments for hypothermia as well as one day being able to stockpile human organs for later transplantation.

The Case of the Upside-Down Crabs

2007-03-03T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We have 12 tropical red crabs 6 of whom have in the last 24hrs taken to living UPSIDE DOWN. They twitch and stretch and my poor girlfriend is convinced that they are going to die. Please can you reassure her that they are fine and just looking for a different perspective on life?

Thanks for your help.

Sam

Dear Gentle Sir:

While crustaceans sometimes strive to see the world from a different point of view than they are accustomed to, crabs are more likely to just remain cantankerous or "crabby," as their name befits them. I will be both blunt and honest: Your crabs are either molting or dying.

In the case of the former, keep the water temperature and chemistry as they are now. If the other crabs seem aggressive toward them, introduce a tank divider to keep the molting crabs safe while they are soft, or as the crabbing industry calls them, "turds."

If the latter is the case and your crabs are expiring, by the time this response is published it may be too late and for that I am deeply sorry. I will include your crabs in my vigils.

If they yet live, check healthy crabs for odd behavior. If it's a tank chemistry problem, all of the crabs are likely to die at some point. If there are high levels of nitrids in the water or the pH is more than a few tenths of a point away from neutral, fix these problems immediately! Remove any pennies from your aquarium and turn your tank filter up to eleven.

I also point you to the case of the upside-down crayfish, a similar but ultimately tragic situation.

Domestic Abuse in Crayfish

2007-02-28T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

My yabby recently molted (is that the correct terminology?) And looked really good with its new and enlarged body but then last night I noticed that both arms and most of his legs were missing! He has a partner living with him and they get along fine. Would the loss of his arms and legs be the result of an attack? He is much bigger than his partner and now he has only one back leg on his left side and two back legs on his right and he seems to be struggling to move and around and eat.. Is there anything I can do to help it and how long til the legs grow back?

Thank you for your time.

Lizzie Loh

Dear Gentle Sir:

Indeed, molting is the proper terminology for what scientists call ecdysis, the process by which an arthropod sheds its exoskeleton in order to grow. It is a dangerous process for your cray and can often result in dropped limbs, depression, and even suffocation.

In your yabby's case of missing legs, however, it sounds like domestic abuse is at play.

Domestic abuse in pets — especially crustaceans — is a little-heard-of and oft-ignored issue. It is thought that among arthropods alone, negelct and abuse account for 90% of injuries and death. Most forms of abuse are passive; that is, the owner doesn't realize they are mistreating their animals. In some cases, like yours, the abuse is carried out by fellow crustaceans.

In domestic relationships, molting is a time when tensions mount due to the preparation for the molt and subsequent recovery. When the molting cray is naked and vulnerable, the other cray will often tear limbs off or otherwise physically abuse its partner in the hours before a new exoskeleton forms.

In the future when one of your crays is about to molt, isolate it until its new exoskeleton has set. You can do this by means of a fry box, a separate aquarium, or a tank divider. You can tell the cray will molt when it begins refusing food and remains idle most of the time. Either that, or it's about to die.

In future molts, your cray's limbs should regrow, though they may be undersized. After a few more molts they will funtion normally and your cray will be healthy. In the meantime, with its reduced mobility, it might be a good idea to isolate the cray or feed it with chopsticks directly to its mouth.

Good luck on its next molt!

300 New Crustaceans from the Phillipines!

2007-02-14T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

my bros told me they discovered some new kind of giant lobster near the phillipines. what can you tell me about that?

asian pride!
Bunga

Dear Gentle Sir:

French researchers have documented hundreds of species of crustaceans from observations made between 2004 and 2005, up to 300 of which may be new to science. Most of the new species found were shrimp and prawn, but there were several crabs and lobsters as well. It is expected to take five years to categorize the new species using molecular testing.

In the meantime here are some physiological reports that showcase some very unique and exciting characteristics.

Banana Shrimp. A stunning bright yellow, this species has a curious adaptation: its claws have evolved to pick out detritus from deep within coral, so its front arms resemble long yellow bananas. It grows to a length of one meter.
Chameleon Shrimp. This species can change its body color to match its surroundings. It does this by releasing chemicals into its blood that color its flesh, visible through its clear shell. The process takes less than half a second and can be repeated as often as necessary until the shrimp swims away. It also changes its colors based on mood, especially while breeding.
Easter Shrimp. Actually a prawn, this species is a dark purple hue and has a heavily segmented tail which resembles eggs squeezed end-to-end. Its young cling to its tail by means of a mucus secretion and feed on microplankton.
Spike Ulang (Tagalog for "spiked lobster.") Growing to lengths of 1.2 meters, The Ulang has thorny protrusions along its rostrum, head, thorax, and claws and turns a bright orange during mating season. The female devours the male alive after it has deposited its sperm in the female's cloaca. A pod of about thirty of these creature were observed and it is thought that they form social groups during the dry season.
Sponge Crab. The Sponge Crab is a member of the Portunidae family but is unique among them in that the female gathers and cultivates sponge in its cloaca after every mating season. In this way it prevents unwanted fertilization by males until its brood has matured.
The Z Crab. The Z Crab, dubbed so by Dr. Yuri Zhukov of the Chiba University in Russia, is a medium-sized member of Brachyura with oddly-shaped claws that are thought to be used to attract mates. Dr. Zhukov reportedly keeps a live Z Crab specimen in his home aquarium.

Research continues...

How Do They Make Blue Lobsters?

2007-01-17T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

How did they make the Lobster blue?

chris

Dear Gentle Sir:

There are many species of lobsters, crayfish, crabs and other decapods in nature that occur blue naturally or can be made to turn blue with some effort. Indeed, the same holds true for any color morph. Among the methods for inducing color morphs, such as eugenics, lighting, dyes, psychotherapy, painting, and oxygen deprivation, simple selective breeding is the most widely-practiced.

In all crustaceans, different concentrations of pigments in their exoskeleton are responsible for their color. These varying color patterns are controlled by the animal's genes, which are the results of generations of adaptation and breeding. Selective breeding then, just as with dogs or cats, can be used to induce different color patterns.

By breeding two blue crayfish parents, for instance, more than half of the resulting brood will be blue. After several generations of blue-breeding, not only will entire broods be blue (expressing the dominance of the blue color), but different shades of blue will start to emerge.

Likewise, crossing two different color crays can result in a third color, though it is much more difficult. In breeding a pair of Lousiana Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), one red and one blue, most of the brood will be red since it is the dominant color. Some, if any, of the offspring will be blue. Once in every few hundred generations, however, the two color expressions will merge and create a purple crayfish. Due to the fleeting nature of that morph, creating a breeding population of purple clarkiis is impossible.

It's also possible to change a crustacean's color patterns. The Rusty Crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) is usually a flat green-grey color with red spots on its sides and the tips of its claws, but thanks to selective breeding by hobbyists a speckled red-and-green line has been established and is now known as the Christmas Cray. Conversely, the Peacock Shrimp (Lysmata cyanea) is a bright blue with pink pleopods and yellow mottling on its claws but has been bred into a simple neon-blue morph.

Selective breeding for color morphs is something you can try at home. Have two different colors of the same species? Force them to breed and see if you can spot a new color in the hatchlings. Want to promote a certain pattern of stripes? Pick the two specimens and mate away! Who knows? Perhaps you could be the first person to unlock some unseen morph, like a red-and-yellow checkerboard crab or a purple-and-pink polka-dotted crayfish. Good luck!

Khasilon, Blind Israeli Cave Shrimp

2007-01-01T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i heard that there's a new species of shrimp discovered in israel do you know anything about this as the jewish people are forbidden to eat seafood

thx,

ari

Dear Gentle Sir:

Back in June of 2006, scientists announced the discovery of a new subterranean cave system found near the city of Ramle in Israel complete with several new unique species. Among these new species were a decopod crustacean the scientists have dubbed khasilon, which is Hebrew for shrimp or crab.

Five million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea formed when the tectonic plates of Africa and Eurasia broke down upon collision. Since then, the sea has shrunk slightly and one underwater cave system was left with a sampling of lake species. In the millions of years since they were cut off from the rest of the sea, they evolved to match their changing environ and eventually became what scientists discovered last year.

One species is a completely translucent scorpion that has evolved the stinger on its tail into a claw like those on its forelimbs.

A species of spider has apparently grown so large that it can catch fish, and does so by trapping an insect in its web, then lowering the creature down to the water on a single thread. When fish come to investigate the bait, the spider reaches down, entraps the fish, and takes it back up to its web for later dining.

There are also species of fish with no eyes but large gill plates that serve as echolocation receptors, species of lichen that glow in the dark, and a centipede that grows up to a meter long and can the eat its own posterior segments when food is scarce. The most interesting new species found in these caves, however, is the khasilon.

A blind, white decapod pleocymate crustacean, the khasilon has not yet been classified. It most resembles a shrimp, but has features of known crayfish and lobster species and scientists are currently awaiting molecular data before they assign it a scientific name. Its behavior and physiology are well-documented, however, and are one-of-a-kind in the animal kingdom.

Though most specimens were found in brackish water, others were found in fresh and salt water, meaning the species has a high tolerance for different water chemistries. It also has a unique way of catching food: the khasilon remains completely still in a shallow pool of water and waits for an animal to fall into the water, rarely moving otherwise. And its sedentary nature also matches its metabolism.

As a means of adaption to a habitat without light, the khasilon ages incredibly slowly. Most specimens found were five to eight centimeters long and took up to thirty years to reach that size. One moulted exoskeleton exceeded 60 centimeters in length and was thought to belong to a khasilon that was over 1,000 years old, a record-holding age among animals.

Labs are currently processing DNA tests of the khasilon and other species, hoping not only to place them in current taxonomy, but also to find clues to how life exists in extreme environments. Stay tuned as more information becomes available on this mysterious ecosystem!

An American Crayfish in London

2007-01-01T10:29:00.002+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I'm an American student moving to England to finish my degree and I plan on taking my crayfish with me. What do I need to know about caring for my cray in the UK? Is there anything I should be aware of?

Thanks,

Chele

Dear Gentle Sir:

First of all, if you're moving to England you should get used to the British spelling of lobstour, which is used to refer what Americans call crayfish or crawdads and is analogous to American English lobster.

In England, a lobstour's pincer and crusher claws are on reverse sides compared to an American cray's, which are thought to have crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Siberia some forty to fifty thousand years ago and are of different physical types than European crays. Today America and Europe are home to unique genera and species, though some American crays have made their way over the Atlantic to become pest species in the Old World.

Bringing your American cray to England can be quite a test. England only allows so many immigrant crays into the country, so a certain amount of smuggling may be involved. You should read up on how to properly ship a cray, and apply and international and local laws regarding your country of destination. Realize that the punishment for illegal immigration is usually detainment followed by deportation, for both the cray and its owner. Be careful!

When rearing a New World cray with aquarium hardware designed for Old World lobstours, one might want to take care to assure maximum comforts for the cray. You'll be using Celsius temperatures in England which are lethal to American crays. Be sure to bring an American heater that uses Farenheit units to warm the tank. Also beware of differences in units of measure, primarily between inches and centimeters. Tanks rated for centimeters might not take your cray, which grows in inches.

So what do you do if your cray has grown too large to house in cramped, claustrophobic Britain? The easiest answer is to release him in a local stream or pond, but pressure from animal rights extremists has made it illegal to release non-native species in British water tables. I would instead suggest placing the cray in a saltwater bath, allowing it to empty its bowels, and shipping it to a friend in a country that doesn't have prison time for returning a crayfish to nature.

Good luck, and I hope you and your cray avoid deportation!

Fresh Crabs

2006-12-27T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

As a kid, I always enjoyed hunting for crabs. It was just a lot of goddamned fun. Now, as a successful restauranteur, I don't have that kind of time. As I said, I'm very successful. I wonder, is there any way I could use an old water well behind my restaraunt to grow my own damn crabs?

Thanks,

Gustavo

Dear Gentle Sir:

As a restauranteur, you most likely serve marine species of crab, probably either the Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) or the Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). Other species are fished and sold commercially in other parts of the world as well. But all of these species are salt-water, and well water is fresh water. Without the proper salinity, any marine species will perish in a matter of hours or days.

Having said that, there are ways to modify your well to accommodate such creatures.

First, your well should have a surface area of at least thirty square feet, which will ensure plenty of oxygen will be able to admix with the water. Without this admixture, your crabs will suffocate. Call a land contractor to redig and rebuild your well. This could run into several thousands of dollars, so when planning this with your contractor, be sure to make the well large enough so that you can later harvest profitably.

Secondly, get to know a local chemical supply company. You'll need unrefined sea salt (actually a medley of minerals harvested from sea water) to augment your fresh water. Optimally, you should buy from a supplier who harvests from the same waters as the crabs you wish to grow come from. In a pinch, however, pet store sea salt can be used.

After careful measurement of your well water, you will then formulate the proper dosage of sea minerals to mimic the crabs' natural habitat. You may have to call upon marine researchers from the area your crabs originate to ask about water conditions. A friendly professor at a local university might also be a good resource.

Once you have an appropriate well, you must buy live crab specimens and, once received, dump them into the well. You can do this by taking them out of their packaging, clipping the bands around their claws, and literally just tossing them down the well. After they have settled, which take anywhere from a couple of hours to a day, you can begin feeding them.

Proper feed for crabs is the same no matter the species. Earthworms, maggots, snails, and leftover shrimp and lobster scraps may be tossed into the well. Vegetables are also important, and you may feed them based on how you want to flavor them later. Onions, garlic, leeks, etc. all work well for Italian seafood tastes. Leafy greens can be thrown in as filler too.

If you live in a temperate clime, feed them daily during the summer and reduce this to once every two or three days during the winter. The reason for this is that crabs are exothermic (meaning their body temps are the same as their environment) and their metabolism slows or quickens depending on the weather and water temp.

With your new venture in place, your patrons should notice and appreciate the freshness of your well-bred crabs. Good luck with your business!

The Glass Lobster

2006-12-22T18:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i heard someone is selling glass lobsters. can you help me before christmas please my wife will kill me and i think it would make a great tankmate for my cray

thanks
carlos

Dear Gentle Sir:

The Glass Lobster you refer to is one of the rarest invertebrates in the world with a population of under ten thousand living in the benthic depths of the Indian Ocean.

The first specimen was discovered in 1889 by German biologist Dr. Friederich Hummer on an expedition to survey prawn popluations near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Examining a catch on a local fishing vessel, he noticed what he first thought to be an oversized shrimp. He preserved the creature for study and later, after having collected several more specimens, submitted his research for the Homarus albus, or White Lobster.

Because specimens to this point had all been found dead, their flesh had turned white, obscuring their translucency. It was only decades later, with the advent of SCUBA, that a live specimen was photographed and found to be translucent. The name was subsequently changed to Homarus vitreus, Latin for "Glass Lobster."

Due to the Glass Lobster's deep-sea habitat, live specimens are difficult to keep in captivity for any length of time. It is also illegal to farm, poach, or otherwise collect Glass Lobsters for anything other than scientific study due to their suspected low population numbers. In other words, Glass Lobsters are not going to inhabit anyone's aquarium grottos any time soon.

To console you and your wife in this holiday season, I do suggest the next best thing: Taf Lebel Schaefer's Lobster, a beautiful piece done in glass and silver, that retails for a reasonable $3,700. It's sure to add class and sparkle to any crystal or glass collection or, if you can't resist, your aquarium.

Happy holidays!

The Dragon Cray

2006-12-18T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Does Taiwan have crayfish, or Asia, for that matter? If so, what kind?

I'm planning a trip to Asia for a year, will be giving my crays to someone else but plan to carry on the hobby if they have crays there. I'd bring the crays along but of course that wouldn't be allowed.

I'd heard they have "the dragon cray", sixteen inches in length, three-clawed, spiked tail and firy red. But I'm not sure if this is just a myth.

Thanks,
OldClaws

Dear Gentle Sir:

Asia is home to a wide variety of cray species, most of which have yet to be scientifically described but are incredibly diverse and, in some cases, unlike any other species in the world.

Japan's national invertebrate is Cambaroides japonicus, the Japanese Crayfish. Usually an unassuming greenish-brown, it only reaches four centimeters in length and is one of the quicker crayfish in the world. It is closely related to Korea's own national invertebrate, Cambaroides similis, the Korean Crayfish.

Also in Japan was Ebirah, an ancient lobster relative that reached lengths of six meters and tooled around the shallows in search of beached marine life. It's theorized that it could use sound to stun prey underwater, but without a completely intact carapace this remains unknown. It also inspired Godzilla's foe in ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ南海の大決闘 (1966).

Taiwan, sadly, is without native cray species. The Rusty Crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) and the Signal Cray (Pacifastacus leniusculus) have both infested Taiwanese waters in what is thought to be an attempt by the People's Republic of China to weaken the tiny island nation's ecology. One can find shops and cafes offering steamed, boiled, or fried 小龍蝦 (soei leng-hei, or "little lobsters") all over cosmopolitan Taiwan.

The Dragon Cray is an unidentified member of the Cambroides genus that lives in the warm rivers and lakes of southern Chine and reaches up to sixteen inches in length. It is bright red and during its mating phase it shows bright blue mottling along its carapace and claws. Allusions to a pointed tale are probably incidental descriptions of the cray folding its tail-fins, while the third claw is completely mythical but has parallels seen in Chinese mythology.

The PRC has strict policies regarding even the study of native cray and crustacean species and a so-called Bamboo Curtain has fallen, making scientific cooperation with Chinese institutions strained. If visiting China, don't expect observation of the Dragon Cray or any other species.

Have a great trip otherwise, and bring back some pictures to share with us!

True vs. Genetic Crays?

2006-12-12T10:42:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Hi, I was looking at some crayfish for sale and the seller has 2 of the same crayfish, One is true and one is genetic. Does anyone know the differance.

Thanks

Dear Gentle Sir:

In arthropod nomenclature, "true" and "genetic" refer to the breeding background of the specimen in question.

True refers to specimens that have been naturally bred without the intervention of humans in the breeding process. So, for instance, crays in the wild are typically true specimens. Crays in fisheries or ponds, despite being housed by man, are also considered true specimens since their reproduction happens naturally.

Genetic specimens, on the other hand, have had some kind of human influence on their reproduction. In this case, "genetic" is short for "genetically engineered." For instance, all cray hybrids that do not occur in nature and only happen in artifical environments are considered genetic.

While in most cases a distinction between true and genetic animals is unimportant, researchers may need a specimen of a certain type, while some individuals prefer not to own or eat anything that has been genetically engineered. In these cases, knowing the birthright of your crustacean is important.

When purchasing crays, or indeed any crustacean, dealers label whether or not a specimen is true or genetic. However, the labels made have been made arbitrarily in order to boost the price of the creature. The only way to avoid this is to research the dealer. Are they reputable? Is there anyone else that has purchased from them?

Hopefully the dealer in question here is reputable and and isn't trying to charge you for a deceptively labeled animal. Good luck!

Should Crustaceans Exercise?

2006-11-24T06:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

my doctor recommends both diet and exercise, and while my crustaceans always get live food, i don't have them in an exercise program. i recently stumbled upon the movie below and wondered if this is some form of animal cruelty, or should i be doing this with my crayfish and fiddler crabs?

thanks,

jamie

Dear Gentle Sir:

Indeed, this is animal cruelty: This poor shrimp is being subjected to a strenuous physical activity without basic consideration for its person. While exercise is a good idea for any animal, the way in which it is executed here is not ideal. There are better ways to exercise your cray, shrimp, or crab.

The issue: Where are the jams?

Music is a great motivational tool when exercising. From the jogging revolution of the late Seventies with spandexed yuppies polluting the streets listening to their Walkmans to today's youth cavorting about campus equipped with their slick, shiny iPods, music is a nigh-universal animus for working out.

So what is to be done with your small family of fiddler crabs? What kind of music should you blast into the tank while you force them to run for miles on end on their little treadmill? It's hard to gauge a crustacean's taste in pop culture, so it's best to keep it simple and play something you know it will appreciate. This leaves only one choice: the all-time greatest workout track ever: The Final Countdown.

In this futuristic rock track, synthesizers and men in strained falsetto deliver a rousing anthem that has driven many an athlete to the next level. Your crabs and crays can march straight to Valhalla on their treadmills, hearts pumping pure adrenaline through their little spiny bodies as the lead melody repeats throughout the song. After an hour or so on the treadmill, they can raise their tiny claws in the air, cutting through the pain barrier and reaching a natural high they just can't experience sitting under a rock all day.

To illustrate the point, here's a video someone made of their shrimp's daily training regiment. Note the exertion and endurance as well as the use of its pleopods (swimmerets) as it practices for the International Crustacean Marathon later in the year.

Heading for Venus...

The Curse of the Bankala

2006-10-31T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I just read about a weird crustacean in Borneo that lives underground and looks like a cross between a lobster and a shrimp. Do you have any information about it? What is it? Where does it come from?

Thanks.
Susanne

Dear Gentle Sir:

This strange crustacean near the city of Kota Kinabalu on the tiny island of Borneo baffles scientists with its unusual morphology. The static claws, for instance, are three times longer than the mobile claw appendage. Most crays have claws that are roughly the same size or at a one-to-two ratio. It is also able to snap its claws so hard it makes an audible clacking sound, much like a Mantis Shrimp. Another distinguishing feature is its tail, which is long and gangly and is incapable of the characteristic cray/lobster tail-flip locomotion.

Natives, who gave this mystery crustacean its name, say the crature is familiar but elusive. The indigenous population have long held modern buildings and technology to be an offense to the spirits of their ancestors. In order to take revenge, their ancestors' spirits arise from the mud in the form of these strange crustaceans and attempt to cut the city-goers' fingers off. Indeed, the name of the city, Kinabalu, means revered place of the dead in the local tongue.

Strangely, scientists have not been able to extract DNA from the animal for genetic testing and everyone involved in the capture or study of specimens has died under mysterious cicumstances.

Crustacean Cohabitation

2006-10-25T04:19:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

What do you guys think of keeping shrimp and crabs together? I was very close to buying some "mini crabs" from petsmart today but when the lady was trying to catch one i saw a lot of them were dead and decided i should wait until they got in some healthy ones, or just go to another store. But anyways, should the two species of inverts be kept apart?

Dear Gentle Sir:

I personally recommend mixing crustacean species to ascertain your own results on cohabitation compatibility. Many species are compatible and may actually complement one another, while others disagree spectacularly and engage in magnificent battles to the death. Regardless of the outcome, however, the only way to find out is to try!

Crayfish are almost always aggressive to other species, and such creatures will trigger their defense behavior. That is, the cray will become enraged and try to tear its tankmate limb from limb. For instance, a fiddler crab (Uca sp.) stands little chance against a cray and will, within minutes, become a twitching stub devoid of legs at the bottom of the tank. Fiddlers are social animals and do not have the aggressive territoriality that the solitary crayfish does.

Shrimp species are much easier to mix with crays, especially ones that lack enlarged chelae (pincers). Ghost shrimp, also known as Glass shrimp, are sold cheaply in pet stores and forage for detritus. Crays will eat them if they're fast enough to catch one, though more often than not you will find the shrimp peacefully riding the cray, picking its shell clean of debris. In turn, the cray will eat the shrimp when they die.

Other species are even more potential fun for cohabiting, however. For instance, the Shield Shrimp is an excellent addition to any tank with more than its share of slow, weak, or sick specimens. Fairy shrimp, brine shrimp, and daphnia are examples of smaller crustaceans that can serve as zoopankton for larger creatures. They also exhibit wonderful aquatic acrobatics as they wend to and fro in the swirling currents of your watery biosphere.

Please share the results of your experimentation with us, preferably with hi-rez pics!

A Look at the Lazarus Shrimp

2006-10-18T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I just bought a triops packet, i have no idea what it is but it says it's the world's oldest crustacean so i thought i'd ask you. they sell something called daphnia to hatch and raise for food, but the guy at the store said you can just let them eat one another.

thanks,
vance

Dear Gentle Sir:

A usually unheard of but incredibly old type of crustacean, the Lazarus shrimp (also known as the the shield shrimp or triops) is the perfect kind of crustacean to introduce into your aquarium. It displays interesting behavior and gives you a glimpse into the past while at the same time entertains for hours on end with its antics.

Diverging from other crustaceans early on, the modern form of the shield shrimp has not changed for 220 million years, making it quite possibly the world's oldest extant group. It is commonly believed to be related to the Horseshoe Crab, though this is not true. Their similar physical characteristics are due to convergent evolution, or one species liking the look of another and evolving to match it.

Being so old requires being crotchety and the shield shrimp does not disappoint in this regard. Used to a short life in a rapidly-drying seasonal pool, the shrimp hatches within four hours of exposure to water and begins molting incessantly. It feeds on anything smaller than itself, so have plenty of sea monkeys handy. If sea monkeys can not be found, it is perfectly suitable to let the triops cannablize until only one, the greatest and strongest, is left in the tank.

After natural selection has worked its magic, it's time to introduce your powerful triop into your community tank! Make sure there's nothing smaller than it in there, as it would prove to be an unfair fight. A crayfish of similar size would make for an excellent battle, and a dozen or so ghost shrimp will provide additional targets for both the cray's and the triop's predatory advances. In addition, they'll serve to help "clean up" the loser after the victor is done eating his fill.

I suggest while your cray and triop get to know one another you film in high speed so that when played back, the creatures look large and slow. Filmed properly and with the addition of some monster movie music, you will have a short five minute clip begging to be uploaded to YouTube or Google Video. Perhaps you can title it something using their taxonomic names to make it sound exotic. For instance, Procambarus vs. Triops sounds like something any child would love to tune into on a Saturday morning.

Good luck with your Shield Shrimp and please share the link to your monster movie once complete!

The Hairy Kiwa

2006-10-14T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I've heard about a weird new hairy lobster that lives at the bottom of the ocean. It's supposed to be a living fossil or something. Do you have the scoop on it?

Dear Gentle Sir:

The Hairy Kiwa is unlike anything ever seen before. Found at depths of 2,300 meters near thermal vents, the Kiwa's pincers, legs, and antennae are covered in fine white celae, or hair. They're also blind, as the benthic deep offers little or no light by which an animal could navigate. In fact, its eyes have devolved into an extra set of antennae for the creature. The Kiwa's body is also strange, its abdomen reduced but not merged with the thorax, as in primitive crabs.

Theories abound regarding the animal's fur coat. One camp suggests the hairs are a way to collect and harvest bacteria, abundant in the warm waters near the vents. Other groups say that the animals use them as sensory devices to compensate for the lack of light. A third group suggests that the celae might have a role in mating, as one male was found adorned with sea shells and had used mud to arrange its hair into intricate patterns. Females sometimes remove some or all of their hair entirely in order to captivate males.

The Hairy Kiwa's only know relative is the Squat Lobster, a member of the same superfamily and similar in body layout. It is thought that the two species are separated by 15 million years of evolution and are remnants of a lineage that eventually led to true crabs and their allies.

Indeed, one could call both the Squat Lobster and the Hairy Kiwa "living fossils," as they retain certain primitive features no longer found in other living species.

Whatever the reason behind the Kiwa's hirsutism and ancient body shape, scientists are attempting to isolate an amino acid found in the Kiwa's blood for hair loss treatment and hope to market a pill based on it within the next few years

I'm Moving. Can I Bring My Crays?

2006-10-10T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i am moving out of my ex wife's house (love stinks) and i want to bring my oh so precious crays with me. i was thinking of syphoning about a quarter of the water in my crays' tanks in individual buckets and then putting them in the tank in my new place plus some fresh water.

i'm kind of lost on what would be the most sound way of doing this...any suggestions?

Dear Gentle Sir:

Moving can be a traumatic time for crays and indeed all species of crustacea. Given proper preparation, however, you can minimize the impact the move has on your little fellow.

How you transport your cray depends on how far you're moving. If you're no farther than an hour from your new destination, you can allow your cray the freedom on perching on your should as you drive. You'll be able to tell it's having a good time as it sways his claws in the air along to the rhythm of the radio or some car songs you and your family might sing. Just remember to dropper it with water every few minutes lest it dry out.

Longer trips require some sort of water for the cray to rest in. A cray traveling over an hour should be accompanied by a five gallon bucket of water filled all the way to the top and sealed — and don't be afraid to pound the lid on with a rubber mallet or hammer. You may want to throw a few food pellets in with the cray. If it seems especially jumpy, grind and add a motion sickness pill or two to the water.

Long-distance moves that involve cross-country driving or flying are best done through airmail for the crayfish. With the following steps you can ensure your cray will meet you at your destination alive and healthy.

Reduce the temperature of your tank by a few degrees a day over the course of several weeks until it's near freezing. (Colder climate crays' temps can be lowered a little more rapidly than tropical species.) You can plan on feeding them less during this period, as their metabolism will slow and you don't want to soil the water.
Call your local United States Postal Service branch and ask about sending items requiring refrigeration (but don't tell them it's a live animal!) The night before you're due to ship, keep the cray in a bowl of water in your refrigerator. At this point it should be almost catatonic.
Using the special packaging and cold-packs specified by the USPS, carefully wrap your cray tightly. I recommend sealing your cray in a plastic baggy filled with water and arranging several cold-packs snugly around it until the padded box or envelope you're using is tight.
Ship your cray so that it will arrive a day or so after you do. The sooner you release your cray from its packing the better, and it wouldn't do to let it sit at your front door day after day waiting on your arrival. You might need to talk to your USPS branch about rates and shipping times.
Optimally you will have shipped your tank's gravel and decorations as well, in which case you can just add these to the tank. Make sure to use cold water at first because too much of a change in temperature could shock your cray. After a few hours, your cray should come to life.

With the right planning and care, your cray will survive the move mostly intact, ready to help you settle in at your new residence.

Why Do Crayfish Dance?

2005-07-30T22:02:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I was wondering if you could explain why freshwater crayfish dance.

I've held about twelve different species of freshwater crayfish and all have exhibited a phenomenum I cannot explain. Many times, while standing idle, the crayfish begin to move one or more of their appendages in some repetitive motion, often times climaxing in most of their appendages moving in several different groups. This motion is distinctly different from any bodily cleaning, and I can't explicitly connect it to molting. Assuming the water and temperature were correct for each species, why does this happen?

Also, the crayfish only recieved live food and usually lived anywhere from six months to two years.

Thank you.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Why do fish swim? Why do bees buzz? Why do woodpeckers repeatedly bash their heads into solid wood? Quite simply, it's what these animals were born to do. And in the crayfish's case, it was born to dance.

Since the cray's evolution over 500 million years ago its overall structure has remained the same, and similarly so has its culture. Dancing began as a form of ten-legged ritualistic expression but slowly evolved into a dynamic leisure activity over the eons. Today crays gather in dance clubs and bars to dance their souls free in a strange and wondrous display of their many appendages.

Crays dance to many different kinds of music. One would almost be accurate in describing the number of crayfish dances to be as numerous as the number of crayfish species. Some crays, like the Yabbies of New Zealand and Australia, like to dance to traditional folk music while crayfish living in the Deep South of the United States enjoy crunk.

Since the early Nineties, however, a new force in dance music has emerged that has reshaped crayfish dancing activities forever: Techno.

Trance, goa, house, down-tempo, drum-n-bass, speedcore, and gabber are but a few of the hundreds of sub-genres crays listen to. Some attend raves and dance to the ultra-agressive music made by the DJs there. Others like happy-core, a simple upbeat form of fast techno played in homosexual dance clubs. Daring crays like extratone, which is a hyper-fast form of techno in excess of 1,000 beats per minute.

As you can see, crays have pushed music forward in an everlasting search for new ways to express themselves kinetically. It's part of who and what they are. They can choose to dance no more than you can choose to beat your heart. Because of this inherent need to dance, amateur crustaceanists should take special care to keep their crays happy and well-exerted.

Placing a sub-woofer directly beneath your aquarium is an excellent idea, especially when playing bass-heavy songs like drum-and-bass or terrorcore. The crays enjoy the vibrations through the water and will certainly move around once you hit the play button! Remember to make a special Crayfish Dance Mix playlist in iTunes to play when you leave for more than a few hours to help keep your cray occupied in your absence.

Blue Crayfish Tropical Vacation

2005-05-23T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Im thinking of letting all of my crayfish go im my tropical tank. I just afraid that my slower fish like my knight gobies, plecos, and my eels wont be able to get away.

Do they eat plecos, or do they leave them alone like other fish do to plecos??? They supposidly smell bad to fish like agreesive cichlids.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Taking your crays for a vacation is both stimulating and healthy, and would make for an excellent adventure for your small ten-legged friends. A tropical tank would be especially interesting for them, with its strange fish and plants alien to temperate crays.

There are some things to keep in mind, however.

If any of your crayfish are from the Arctic regions, they may not be able to handle tropical temps. Arctic crays prefer water in the 10-15°C while tropical tanks can reach 24°C and could induce heart attacks and metabolism problems in the cold-clime crays.

Sunscreen is important, especially in tanks that use incandescent lighting, for Northern crawdads who don't see much sun and spend most of their time under rocks or burrows. Squirting a few dollops of SPF 45 or greater will help ensure your crays can play in the gentle surf without worry.

Maintaining a healthy diet is essential, and though the thought that the tropics are just one mixed drink out of hollow fruit after another can be true, if you and your crays mind what's eaten dining can be an exciting experience. For example, there are several species of flatworm and leeches in tropical climates not available in temperate regions, and shrimp and prawn abound.

As for cohabiting your crays with tropical species, look at it as a cultural studies field trip. Let them benefit from meeting new species and seeing other ways of life unfamiliar to them. Breaking down cultural barriers goes a long way toward eliminating xenophobia and racism while familiarity just breeds hatred — for the other fish.

Prepare to watch an amazing display of culture and society from both sides as your gang of crayfish enter the tropical tank as each group of species learns from one another and shares their unique perspective of the world. Perhaps your crays will make friends that will last the years to come!

Seasonal Affective Disorder

2004-11-23T09:46:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Our blue crayfish is about 4" long (from end of tail to tip of pinchers). She went through a molt about 4 weeks ago and was her normal self until last week. She seems to lay about for long periods of time and does not seem to be interested in eating. The water checks out as being healthy. There are quite a few water plants in this 10 gallon tank. Any guesses as to what the problem might be?

Thank you.

Dear Gentle Sir:

After eliminating water quality and environment, it sounds like your crayfish has the Winter Blues, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This ailment is brought about when certain chemicals in the brain, dependent upon exposure to natural sunlight, are secreted less frequently than needed. The result is depression that begins in the Autumn and intensifies throughout the Winter.

Crustaceans in temperate and arctic environs show increased depression during periods of the year with shorter days, and during these times crayfish suicide is not uncommon. Scandinavia and Alaska, where there may not be sun for weeks or months at a time, have the highest cray-suicide rates of anywhere in the world; however, any case of SAD, no matter its location, is a serious one. Thankfully, there are many treatments today that range from light therapy to counseling to medication.

One of the first things a cray-caretaker should do is make sure there are a variety of activities for the cray. Are there plenty of caves and tunnels for your chitonous friend to explore? Perhaps a hamster wheel or a pack of wily ghost shrimp might be in order to keep your cray's metabolism up. Exercise is usually a successful treatment for depression, with 67% of crayfish, and 58% of all decapods, reporting an increase in energy and mood after just one month of 30 minutes daily exercise.

The addition of special bulbs to your aquarium setup can help mimic the natural UV rays of the sun that a cray would enjoy in the summer months. Though more expensive, they not only energize the mood of your tank but also help clear up gill flukes, shell infections, and acne. Should the cost of such light prove prohibitive, however, a weekly trip to your local tanning salon will do. Simply set your cray in a tanning bed for the maximum time limit. Be sure to ask your tanning salon clerk about discounts for crustaceans!

Another folk remedy is to pour one cup of coffee into your cray's tank every morning. Used as a trick by trappers trying to capture sluggish crays, the caffeine stimulates the cray's heart rate and blood pressure. Include a teaspoon or more of sugar for an added kick, but be ready to clean the tank: As with humans, caffeine acts as a stimulant to the lower bowel system and your cray will expel an unbelievable amount of feces soon after he's had his morning cup. Keep that scrubber handy!

Should the above home remedies not produce improvements in your cray's health, seek professional help. Regular counseling with a psychologist might be necessary, and certain prescription drugs are available to your cray as well. Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil have all shown great promise in mood normalization for many crayfish mental health problems including bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and seasonal affective disorder.

With time, patience, and perhaps medical care, your cray should his creepy-crawly self in no time at all.

The Malaysian Prawn

2004-09-09T04:17:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Can anyone provide me some info about macrobrachium species (shrimps). I think i have Macrobrachium Lar.(according to a german site but they are not sure, but mine look the same as the pic there). I want to know everything about this species....

Dear Gentle Sir:

The macrobrachium genus, also known as the Malaysian Prawns, is a member of the shrimp family and consists of about 30 species. The macrobrachium, or large arm, genus lives throughout south-east Asia. Unfortunantly, due to its relative rarity in the aquarium world, some species of Malaysian Prawn are sold by some unscrupulous store owners as blue lobsters. Thanks to a growing popularity that began in the late Eighties, more and more people are being introduced to this wonderful animal under its proper name. Raising Malaysian Prawns makes an excellent sister hobby to raising crays, crabs, and shield shrimp.

Care and feeding are similar to those of crayfish, though water pH should be just slighty (7.2) alkaline. Water temperature should be from 20-22 degrees Celsius, slightly warmer than what most crays prefer. Be sure to include plenty of live food such as earthworms, leeches, and maggots. Plants are important too, as a diet poor in chlorophyll can cause loss of pigmentation and abnormal molts leading to death. A fluorescent light should illuminate the tank eight hours a day to simulate a normal day cycle. Do not leave pets or small children unattended with a Malaysian Prawn.

Scientists believe the Malaysian Prawn descended from marine species some 13,000 to 18,000 years ago, after the end of the last Ice Age. Its last common ancestor with crayfish, however, probably lived well over 500 million years ago. While it prefers fresh water during most of its life it must return to brackish water to mate. In Malaysia and surrounding regions it is not unusual to see parades of these gentle creatures frantically scurrying over dry land during mating season. Some countries have even instituted fines for harming the prawn during their migration.

The most pressing issue concerning the Malaysian Prawn currently is whether it would be victorious against a crayfish of similar size and aggression in a fight. Animal Planet recently aired a series that staged various species of animals in fantasy fights. Unfortunantly, only computer models were used, though there is a push for actual animal fights in the next season. Reportedly producers are looking at pitting a Giant Tasmanian Freshwater Lobster (astacopsis gouldi) against a Long-Armed Malaysian Prawn (macrobrachium rosenbergii) for the season pilot. Crustaceanists everywhere eagerly await the results.

When Is a Decapod Not a Decapod?

2004-07-23T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I cant believe it Chomper ripped off bloodreds arm, I hope it grows back, bloodred is acting normal, I didnt even seem to scare her when it came off any thoughts?

Dear Gentle Sir:

Crayfish, like most other aquatic crustaceans, have the ability to lose a limb without suffering dire consequences. In times of danger, stress, or anxiety crays can drop limbs off at will and so what happened to your cray's arm was actually a defensive move on her part. Long periods of depression in decapods like shrimp, crabs, and crays can also result in a seemingly random loss of limbs. Scientists have studied this ability for decades.

With the advent of DNA research, the ability to drop limbs at will has been isolated to the brachioperditis gene in the decopod family. Experiments in turning the brachioperditis gene off have resulted in crays who can no longer drop limbs under duress; likewise, other tests where the effect of the brachioperditis is intensified have resulted in crays that can remove their heads for short periods of time. Scientists desire to eventually splice the brachioperditis gene into humans.

After your cray's next molt a smaller version of her old arm should return that will grow with subsequent molts. In the meantime, she may experience what's known as phantom pain, a condition where an acute ache in the missing limb can be felt. Use an eye dropper to deliver painkillers, such as morphine, in liquid form to the cray until her next molt and all should be well.

Caring for Adolescent Crays

2004-07-21T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

i just got 3 baby lobsters they are family will they stil fight i was just asking i have them in a 15 gallon.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Just like any other family, your crays are dependent upon a stable home. Without their mother or father to care for them, you must provide the guidance and discretion required to raise a healthy family. Fighting is only one small facet of these young crays' behavior that will need touched upon in the years ahead as they mature and hopefully become self-sufficient, productive members of society. The dangers of letting these orphans grow up without a loving environment make it clear that you must provide a loving home.

Crayfish juvenile delinquency is a widespread problem in aquariums today, and one that does not garner the attention it deserves. One out of every five crayfish tanks is home to young crayfish with a history of illegal activity; it is estimated that 22% of all crays under the age of three will commit a violent act before their first thirty molts. Criminal tendencies especially present themselves in mixed environs where crays of different species grow up together. Such problems increase when other crustacean families, like prawn, crabs, and water fleas, cohabit. Animals of other phyla are also at risk for a clawing by unorderly cray youth.

To prevent unruliness and ensure a stable home, make sure your crays have plenty of hiding places, at least five gallons of water each to themselves, plenty of live plants in the tank to munch on, and healthy interaction with you, their new foster parent. Nothing is more important to a young cray than to know that they have a strong base where they can feel comfortable and unthreatened.

Open dialog helps maintain such an environment, so make sure to play with the crays early on, letting them become acclimated to physical activity with you. Touch is important at such a young age. As they mature, be sure to listen to their questions and comments regarding the tank and their food. It's hard to make a healthy home in a poorly-built house. When puberty hits and the crays start becoming territorial, increase the size of the tank and perhaps introduce more physical activity to help them burn off their frustrations. That algae brush is good for more than cleaning the sides of the tank!

Checking the childcare section at your local bookseller might aid in raising the crays as the years go by as undoubtedly unexpected problems crop up. With plenty of interaction and an attentive eye, you should be able to not only keep your crays from fighting but also nurture them into robust adults that can one day birth their own little cray-families.

Just think: One day you'll have grand-children to spoil!

Postpartum Depression in Crayfish

2004-07-11T17:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

We have a lone blue lobster in a tank with a pair of young Oscars. She has her cave and has dug it out (barricading the front) and retreated there for the last few weeks. She used to come out often to terrorize the fish and explore the tank. Now she only comes out to collect an algae wafer and only if it is right in front of her cave. Tonight we prepared to move the tank from one house to another, and in moving her we noticed she had about 25 small black eggs attached to her tail. She has been the only crustacean in the tank since we got her about 8 months ago. Immaculate conception or can they store the sperm for a REALLY long time after mating? :-) How long does it take the eggs to hatch and once they hatch, how long is it safe to leave her with then before she will start snacking on them? Thanks!!

K Sutter

Dear Gentle Sir:

Indeed, female crays can store sperm for years, silently producing broods based on one male's donation for several seasons. Female crays do this by use of a special compartment in their exoskeletons called the cambarum, where sperm is kept sealed off from the outside world. During mating season the female's mating instinct guides her to open the cambarum and smear the sperm across her face and vagina several times a day.

After fertilization, female crayfish will produce hundreds of eggs and carry them under her tail, at which point she is referred to as in berry. Sadly, if your female is carrying only twenty-five, the eggs were likely infertile or water conditions killed the eggs off before they could mature. In humans, this would be akin to carrying a still-born baby, giving birth to it, and dressing the tiny corpse in infant clothes and attempting to breast-feed it.

You may want to seek therapy for your female cray. Postpartum depression is a very real and very acute condition in crayfish just as it is in humans. You can take actions in your own home alongside the therapy, such as using live foods like earthworms, maggots, and dragonfly larva, exposing the cray to sunlight, and playing loud, cheerful music at all hours of the night. Your doctor may recommend psychoactive drugs for your cray, usually administered by eyedropper into the tank water.

With consistent treatment, your cray should recover from her depression and lead a long, healthy life. Good luck to you and your lady cray.

The Case of the Alaskan Crawdad

2004-05-11T06:51:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I just read this this article about a crayfish being discovered in Alaska. According to the story, no crays are native to Alaska and they actually present a threat to native wildlife. How did the crayfish get all the way to Alaska?

Dear Gentle Sir:

The response to discovery of a live crayfish in the wilds of Alaska has caused quite a stir in the crustacean community. The primary concern is to stop the spread of this non-native species. As the story notes, foreign crayfish can become 90% of the biomass in a susceptible ecosystem if left unchecked. Though physically tiny, the crayfish found in the Kenai Peninsula could mean a breakdown of the foodchain, decimation of the fishing industry, and a cooling of regional temperatures as trees and other plant life dies off. Some scientists fear pestilence and famine further down the line if the crays are not stopped.

The question of how the cray arrived in Alaska has been pushed to the back-burner, but let's examine it here for a second. In any introduction of a foreign species to an ecosystem there are three primary methods of transmission. Manual transmission implies some person or persons acted to release the organism into the wild. This can mean a deliberate attempt to establish a species or simply an unscrupulous pet owner loosing their animal to be rid of its burden.

Neoautoestablishmentism describes a situation where an individual or species will migrate to a foreign area. Some new factor in their own ecosystem forces them to seek out new regions to live in, and can include pollution, disease, change in climate, and depression. In this case there is no human intervention behind the migration, but this can be even more deadly for a habitat: By the time authorities notice changes in the ecology, damage may be too extensive to repair or halt.

The third way new species enter into new territories is, simply put, aliens. For centuries mankind has reported abductions and experimentation by people from the sky. In recent history we note saucer-like objects filled with grey, large-headed humanoids. Scientists theorize that these eery beings are cataloging species and studying how the ecology of our planet works and that the introduction of organisms into foreign systems are actually performed by aliens themselves.

In the case of this cray being found thousands of miles away from its natural clime in chilly Alaska, it's a safe bet to blame aliens. Clearly the crayfish is incapable of flight, and the land mass is far too large to cover for such a small, water-dependent creature. Only a glowing orb piloted by bug-eyed extraterrestrials can adequately explain the crawdad's presence in the swamps of Kenai. And sadly for Kenai, these aliens spell ecological trouble.

The Case of the Burrowing Hermit

2004-01-14T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Is molting-time the only time hermit crabs burrow down into the substrate? My small hermie has completely buried herself down under the moss that is in one corner of her habitat. The habitat is a 20-gallon aquarium with about 3 inches of sand over 80% of it. For variety, I put a gravel area in one corner and a moss area in another. Maybe she just likes the moss, but I am concerned that she might be starting to molt. There are 3 other crabs in the tank, one a little bit larger than her, and 2 that are quite a bit larger.

... I know you aren't supposed to move a molting crab, but considering that she's buried herself in moss rather than sand (and the moss isn't even very moist), and she is not isolated from these larger hermies.... Should I just leave her be??

Dear Gentle Sir:

It sounds to me like your hermit crab is depressed. Like people, hermit crabs often seek dark places when experiencing emotional lows. Since your crab is not fully-grown, this could be a case of adolescent depression as your hermit tries to find its place in the world and establish a unique personal identity for itself; however, it's also possible that this is a chronic hormonal imbalance that will require medication and therapy. Hurry your hermit crab to the vet to get a full diagnosis.

In the meantime, you can try to brighten your hermit crab's life up a little with some music. As your hermit crab lives in the sand, under bright lights, something upbeat like the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean are good choices. Place a little speaker next to or inside of the tank and play at a moderate volume. Your hermit and his tank mates can have little beach parties which will also induce exercise and a friendly environment, two things great for beating depression. Avoid music like Depeche Mode or Nine Inch Nails which will only serve to further sink your crab into melancholy.

Another idea to bring joy into your hermit crab's life is to introduce decorations to the tank. You can find a variety of miniature castles at your local pet supply store, as well as fake divers, treasure chests, and palm trees. Action figures could add a new dimension of life to the tank too. Fellow crustaceans will make your hermit crab feel more at ease with his new plastic neighbors and engender a sense of crustacean fraternization that will boost his confidence, making him feel part of the in crowd.

Largest Cray Ever Found?

2004-01-13T06:43:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I read that one of the largest crayfish ever found was 90lbs and 6 feet long. They found it in Louisiana in 1934 and named it Old Papa Spice. They did not say, but I assume it would be a Red Swamp cray since they are native to that area. Does anyone know if this is true? If anyone has any info on this please email me. It sounds crazy, but I dont know why it would be made up.

Thanks, Daniel

Dear Gentle Sir:

Crayfish come in all sizes, some no larger than the top knuckle of your pinky and some larger than your average lapdog. Of course no one cares about the smallest ones when there are real monsters creeping around the dark corners of the world. Through time there have been some very large crayfish indeed, so let's look at a few examples of record-breaking crays.

Ol' Papa Épicé astounded Louisiana in 1934, but let's not forget that for publicity's sake the accepted measurement of 6 feet included his antennae. More accurate reports claim that the actual length from head to tail was 3 feet, 4 inches and weight was somewhere around 30lbs. Nonetheless these numbers are impressive since no other American cray reaches anywhere near these proportions. Since the species was never recorded doubts of authenticity suggest that the cray may have been a marine lobster introduced into a brackish swamp pool. DNA testing of the carapace has been inconclusive thus far.

In Borneo during World War II another creature waved its gargantuan claws into history. Bagaton (Kadazan-Dusun for big jar) was found by Australian marines patrolling swamps. Measuring an amazing 4 feet, 2 inches and weighing 49lbs, Bagaton resembled marine lobsters from that region of the world but was caught in a freshwater pool. Taxonomists theorize that Bagaton is a marine species that had re-adapted to fresh water within the last several millennia. Again, lack of further scientific testing leaves us with more questions than answers, though the Bagaton corpse is still in relatively good condition for future research.

Prehistoric crayfish and lobsters handily beat today's record-holders for size and weight. Cruising the warm, shallow seas millions of years ago we find several bizarre specimens. The Anomalocarids, ancient crustaceans with pincer-like appendages and flexible body armor, actively swam and hunted food. Some species grew to lengths of five feet. Meganychus grew to lengths of eight feet and featured a set of claws that spanned four feet when fully splayed! Another genus, Gigaeurys, was almost as long as it was wide (six feet) and is thought to have been an evolutionary dead end that was as closely related to crabs as it was to true lobsters and crays.

Other, even larger, prehistoric fossils found off the coast of Japan inspired myths of the Ebirah, a giant sea monster that guarded an island of treasure from the outside world. Thanks to the myths and the fossil species, this 20 foot long primitive lobster relative, thought to be capable of vocalizations meant to stun prey, eventually found its way into cinema in the 1966 Toho masterpiece Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster. Sadly for crustaceanists everywhere Godzilla made short work of the giant lobster champion with his atomic breath.

The Case of the Disappearing Crayfish

2004-01-11T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have one female blue crayfish living in a 15 gallon tank with a filter. Lately, the tank has been getting green on the inside walls and you cannot see the crayfish! I have to clean the tank out regularly, and every time it comes back. Am I doing something wrong? I at first thought I was overfeeding her, but I didn't feed her as often and it came back. If anybody can help, it would be appreciated.

Dear Gentle Sir:

It sounds to me like you have an algae problem! Though usually not serious, algae can effect water pH and oxygen levels. In the very least it's unsightly, like streaks in your toilet bowl during a family gathering. There are a few simple steps you can take to prevent this algae, none of which are very expensive.

Run your lights no more than eight hours a day. Any more than this and the algae will experience abnormal growth. Most crayfish habitat doesn't experience any more than eight hours of sun a day, so the cray won't be phased at all. Remember, like vampires, crayfish stalk for food at night under the cover of darkness and so prefer the dim shade that an unlit tank affords.
Get a scrubber. These simple tools are have a foam pad on the end, one side of which has a mildly abrasive surface. Going over the tank walls with a scrubber once a week is usually enough to maintain visibility and there's little to no disruption to the tank itself, especially when compared with introducing other animals into the aquarium. They usually sell for around a dollar.
Ghost Shrimp! These magical creatures, transparent save for their internal organs, sift through detritus and debris. Algae growth can be spurred by decaying foodstuffs so a fleet of Ghost Shrimp scanning the tank floor can prevent the cloudiness an algal bloom brings to the environment. At just 33¢ a piece you can not only clean up the tank for very cheap but also add some excitement with their gentle antics.

Good luck with your algal problems and just remember: Several cultures harvest kelp and algae to make flour and baked goods. Perhaps if you find it impossible to control the algal bloom you can do reap the benefits of a free food source! Your crayfish will not mind the intrusion, thinking it playtime with some five-legged water creature. Remember to tickle his or her belly; they love it and wriggle wildy in carefree abandon! Bon appétit and happy scrubbing!

The Case of the Upside-Down Crayfish

2004-01-07T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have had my crayfish for just about two years. Today we found him laying upside down in the tank. When we went to get him thinking he was dead he started walking around. Then a few momoents later he was on his side again. I am guessing he is coming to an end? Anyone ever had this happen.

Dear Gentle Sir:

Remember dear old Dad, reclining in his hammock, content and at peace with the world after a hard day's work? He wanted nothing more than to just sit back and relax with a nice iced tea and the breeze to keep him company, cooling him in the dying glow of the summer sun. In many ways, your crayfish is behaving a lot like dear old Dad, reclining nude on its back, waving its legs gently. There is one thing, however, that differs sharply.

Your crayfish is about to die very, very soon.

How would you treat your dying father? Make your cray as comfortable as possible: monitor the water temperature and test the pH and water chemistry. Throw a live maggot or worm to him occasionally, even holding it with some sort of instrument up to its mouth-parts. Perhaps moving the cray to a softer spot might help, and covering him in water vegetation before you go to bed for the night would be appropriate too. Fortunately your crayfish needs no bed-pan, but be sure to knock loose any feces that may be trailing from its anus.

Concerns after your crayfish die are much different. You will have to decide on disposal. Some choose a simple flush down a toilet, while others opt to stuff and mount the cray for continued enjoyment throughout the years. One little girl who wrote in claimed that she buried her crayfish under her back yard in a shoe box, complete with eulogy! Though frowned upon my most serious crustaceanists, cooking and eating the dead crayfish is an option too, but be sure that the cray is either still alive or freshly dead as dead crayfish harbor many disgusting bacteria that don't belong in the human gut!

As for your own grieving, I suggest getting a new crayfish as soon as possible. Perhaps it would feel good to start with a crayby or maybe to go out and buy that exotic that yabby you've always fantasized about. Whatever the case, grief is often overcome while keeping busy and there's no better way to keep busy than with a new cray. Even a fiddler crab harem or some ghost shrimp might be a good way to get back on the crustacean horse after this crushing personal blow to you.

With much sympathy I wish you luck.

I Have Crabs!

2003-12-18T07:41:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I was recently given 3 small crabs that look very much like the larger ones that people eat but these are smaller than a quarter around including the legs. I have never seen anything like them and would like to know how to care for them. They are not hermit crabs. They stay in water like a fish and have no sea shells attached to them. They were purchesed from a pet store so im guessing someone knows about them.

Dear Gentle Sir:

These crustaceans that you have are female fiddler crabs (Uca spp.). I find it curious that the pet store sold these crabs without some sort of label, but the description you provide indicates this gentle decapod. Fiddler crabs can be fun, but here are some rules of thumb to keep in mind while you care for them.

Multiple females are okay, multiple males are a bad idea. Fiddler crabs live in large loose-knit groups called colonies that may number in the thousands. Within each colony are smaller groups called clutches that usually number no more than 12. The group consists of several females of various ages and one dominant male. Immature males may also be part of the group, but generally males will not tolerate other males of breeding age. This social structure holds true in your tank as well as a beach, so feel free to add females to a group but never more than one male. Just because the pet stores stock many males and females together does not mean you should. Ever notice how many males are missing legs? Wonder why no longer.
Much like crayfish, fiddler crabs can breathe air, but unlike crayfish, fiddler crabs must breathe air occasionally. Filling a tank to the top isn't the way to go, so make sure you have plenty of rocks and supports where the crabs can emerge from the water. Also make sure that each fiddler crab has at least two and a half gallons to themselves. Keep the tank temp stays around 76 degrees at all times, and use bright fluorescent lights that mimic natural sunlight. Aquarium conditions are important for the health and longevity of your fiddlers!
Fiddler crabs prefer live food over dried food. Fiddler crabs don't have the largest mouth parts, but a small earthworm or maggot will fit nicely down their gullets. If you can't feed the fiddlers live food all of the time, try frozen blood worms. The fiddler crabs will benefit from the fresh nutrients and be healthier for it. A steady diet of dried pellet food will result in sluggish, lethargic crabs, so these pellets should only be used to add variety to the diet and not as a staple food source. Also make sure some sort of soft water vegetation is available for them to munch on.
Music is important in the life of a fiddler crab. During feeding Chopin or Brahms are appropriate, as the peaceful soothing melodies aid digestion. During the night even slower works are favored as they forage quietly on the tank bottom for leftovers from earlier and groom themselves in the darkness. During mating season the males love to wave their oversized claw around to the works of Wagner and Mozart. The higher frequencies are not so important as the lower ones are, so placing the sub-woofer directly under the tank usually achieves the best results. Your fiddlers will thank you for the music with increased activity and vibrant colors. Don't neglect this aspect of your new pets!

Don't forget to read up on these wonderful creatures both online and at your local library! They can provide hours and hours of entertainment for the whole family as they share their private crustacean world with you through the glass of the aquarium tank!

Craw-Mamma Questions

2003-12-16T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

we have a 36 gallon tank with 1 blue crayfish and 1 red crayfish and some other misc fish. red (her) and blue (him) have mated many times lately and weve noticed eggs on her underside. she has made her nest in a cave area and she hasent been out in almost 2 weeks. she is also now turning green. she doesnt look fussy so we dont think its moss... but im concerned it will kill her. is this normal ? should we force her out and remove this structure so she nests in an open area with better water circulation ? your help is greatly needed...

Dear Gentle Sir:

Firstly, let us discuss identification of your crays. It seems that the red female cray is a procambarus clarkii, commonly known as the Red Swamp Crayfish, while the blue male is a procambarus alleni, commonly referred to as the Blue Lobster. These species are found in the American Deep South swamps and ponds and are easy to breed and maintain, hence their commercial distribution as pets around the world.

Your Red Swamp Cray is what we call in berry, reffering to the berry-like mass of eggs under her tail. She is indeed pregnant and in just a few short days your tank will be crawling with hundreds of tiny baby crayfish (called craybies by professionals) of the hybrid type procambarus alleni × clarkii. Since this is a coupling of a Blue Lobster and a Red Swamp Cray, we can expect the craybies to be purple, which is a rarity in the crustacean world.

Your concern for the craybies very valid. During berry, the female cray secretes a hormone into the water that will keep the male at bay. After hatching, the mother will care for her offspring, letting them ride under her tail; however, after this period the mother and any other crays will consider the hatchlings as food. It is time to remove all other creatures from the tank lest you risk them being eaten. The world of the crayfish is a savage one filled with hunger, violence, and death.

As for the green coloration of the Red Swamp Cray, the most likely explanation is that the cray is simply changing colors. The exoskeleton itself is semi-transparent and a cray's coloration actually comes from its muscles and blood. Cray coloration changes for every occasion, including pregnancy, mating, and dying. A crayfish's color may change over life too, and water chemistry factors in as well. Assuming she doesn't seem agitated and the eggs aren't shriveling, she will be fine.

Good luck and enjoy your thousands-strong brood of hungry craybies!

Crustacean Death

2003-02-09T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I heard that there was this pipeline that someone was filming in the ocean, and a crab got sucked into it. How could this happen, as the crab has a hard shell.

Thank you.
Pietro

Dear Gentle Sir:

This gruesome video has recently come to my attention, and indeed it does show an Alaskan Sun Crab (Callinectes solaris) being cruelly sucked into a pipeline that had been sawed open for repair.

The pipeline in question is located several kilometers deep in the Bering Sea and was under 1,000 metric tons of pressure per cubic centimeter of water, more than enough to crush the crab's tough exoskeleton.

At the point where the crab was stuck, the pressure disintegrated the crab's shell and pushed its insides into the vacuum of the pipe. By the time the crab's shell was finally sucked in, its internal organs were miles ahead of it in the pipeline. The crab probably never felt a thing.

Though disturbing and unpleasant, crustacean death is a fact of life. I urge you to watch the video below so as to realize this.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS DISTURBING CONTENT! NOT APPROPRIATE FOR PERSONS WITH EPILEPSY, DIABETES, HEART PROBLEMS, OR PREGNANT OR NURSING WOMEN! VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Normal Behavior for Baby Crayfish

2002-12-08T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

What is normal behavior for a baby crayfish? The babies hatched ~1 week ago and now they stopped moving, turned onto their sides and have turned red. Are they alive? Is this normal? What should we do? What do the baby crayfish need to eat?

Dear Gentle Sir:

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that the state of your baby crayfish (called craybies in scientific circles) indicates that they are, sadly, expired. Moved on to that big freshwater tributary in the sky. Dead.

To directly answer your question, however, typical behavior and appearance of craybies is as follows. For the first week after hatching, they will stay on their mother's underside, and eventually grow bold enough to explore on their own, though always returning to their mother. After another week or so, they will be off on their own, independently foraging for detritus on your tank's bottom.

I wish to express my deepest sympathies and regrets to you, gentle sir, and hope that you can grow beyond this holocaust of dead baby crayfish scattered all over your aquarium and one day attempt to live again without the constant gnawing guilt of a thousand weeping souls.

You, and your silenced children, are in my prayers.

Electric Blue Lobster Tips

2002-12-04T18:30:00.001+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

Hello, I have just recently bought an Electric Blue Lobster , and I am trying to find out how to care for it better. The pet store in which I bought him at was not very helpful. I have him in a 5 gallon tank filled with water (I got the gallon sized bottled water) with some rocks, and his food, which are some shrimp (go shrinp) and a feeder fish. I got the e-care book, but it only gives refernce to Crabs. What size tank should I get, does he need heated water, a misting bottle, air pump. I don't know much from what they told me at the pet stor. What is molting also. I know this seems like a lot but, I have been everywhere for this kind of information. Please help. Thank you. Happy Holidays!!

Dear Gentle Sir:

Generally, the larger an area you can give your Electric Blue Lobster (probably actually either a procamabrus alleni or an orconectes immunis), the better. That being said, for practical purposes a 10 gallon take will suffice for the single specimen and a 20 gallon tank would be ample.

The water in the tank, which optimally should be seasoned for a few weeks before you introduce the cray, must be free of all sanitary chemicals. Chlorine and chloramine, often found in tap water, are cray-killers. A temperature of 70 degrees with a pH of 7.0, or neutral, will make for a very stable and comfortable environment for your blue lobster. An air pump of some sort should be used in the tank, if not a substratum filter. Oxygen is important to crayfish.

As for molting, good sir, it is the natural process by which crayfish (as well as other crustaceans) shed their hard exoskeleton in order to grow. The process is preceded by strange eating behaviors and activity patterns. The shell will split at the carapace and the cray usually escapes through the top of the tail. During this stage the lobster is vulnerable and will hide for a few days, and is why it is important that there is plenty of space and hiding places in the tank: predacious fish species as well as other crays will consider the molted lobster as prey! After hardening the new, larger exo-skeleton, the crayfish should begin eating normally. You may also notice that any missing or injured limbs have reappeared in some manner after the molt.

The Embrace Question

2002-12-04T18:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I have two crayfish in my African cichlid tank. One is blue and has longer claws (if that's the right term), and the other is brown and has shorter claws. Do the size of the front claws indicate male and female? They have been together in the tank for a few months. Twice I have seen the longer-clawed crayfish (blue) grab hold of the shorter one's claws and hold it in what looks like a mating embrace. Could this actually be a mating embrace, or are they probably just fighting? Thanks.

Dear Gentle Sir:

To address the most important point first, no, what you are observing is not a mating embrace. It is an embrace of death, brought about by territorial disputes between the two crayfish in your tank!

I recommend either relocating one of the two crayfish, or moving the entire system to a larger tank. Crayfish are territorial and what you have seen in the past is a guarantee of oblivion for the first of these two arch-rivals the moment that they molt and become vulnerable!!!

As for the question about claw size indicating gender: no, sir, this simply indicates that these crays are of different species, and most probably different genera as well.

My Fiddler Crab Is Losing His Legs!

2002-12-03T08:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

please help my fiddler crab is losing his legs!i just got him 2 days ago and he is eating and acting fine (except for his leg) i also keep him in a 10 gallon tank with 1 other male crab thank u

Dear Gentle Sir:

A 10 gallon tank may be too small to keep a pair of male fiddlers in. Just because the pet store does it doesn't mean that you should!!!

Other than stress created by suboptimal territory distribution between the two male fiddlers, here are a few other points to check up on:

Are the crabs being fed properly? Crustaceans are oppostunistic cannibals, and since these two males are kept closely together, territorial disputes may become occasions for quick meals.
What's the water like? Check pH, temperature, and nitrate levels, all of which can affect fiddlers. Also make sure that if you used tap water for your tank, you removed the chlorine or any other sanitary chemicals from it first.
Can the fiddlers get out of the water? In a 10 gallon tank, the water should be no higher than 3", with several areas the fiddlers can climb out of the water at. Fiddlers need air! Without access to air, a fiddler's health will decrease.
Hiding places! Like crayfish and lobsters, fiddler crabs molt. When molted, their hard exo-skeleton is shed off and they are left vulnerable for a few days while they recalcify their new exo-skeleton. Without a place to hide while so weak and soft, they can easily lose legs from competing fiddlers or any other predacious species in the tank.

Cherax Trouble

2002-11-29T08:54:00.000+05:30

Dear Blue Lobster:

I recently acquired a cherax speciman, air-mailed from Australia last week. Since then I've had the cray in a 50-gallon freshwater aquarium. The water was seasoned from known-safe tap-water, since I didn't feel using creek water containing local microorgasms would be safe for the cherax. Feeding him bloodworms, earthworms, and lettuce the cherax seemed fine until this Thanksgiving evening.

Returning home with several tubs of leftovers from a Thanksgiving dinner, I proceded to feed my cherax some chilled, roasted turkey (in 2mm strips), mashed potatoes (by means of a cotton swab) and gravy (through an eyedropper). Sirs, after feeding him this meal I left my aquarium room for several hours — and returned to find my cherax in his current state!

My cherax is now lying on his side, twitching, with a string of dark fecal matter trailing from its anus and several strange, white beads of mucus oozing from its mouth-parts. I immediately checked the water for pH levels and nitrids and found the results to be not only well within acceptable limits for the cherax but also identical to my last such test made 16 hours prior to this one. Increasing the intensity of the flow to and from the filter and increasing oxygen levels in the tank seemed to ease the twitching but the cherax is still mostly inert. At this moment its only activity is gill-fanning and the occasional eye-cleaning movement.

I've seen molts begin like this (aside from the feces and mucus), but at this stage in the process the carapace should have split by now, and there is no indication of such with my cherax. There are also no signs of acute parasitic infestation. What could be causing this strange behaviour in my cherax? I fear it will die soon if I can not identify the problem and treat it. Do any of these symptoms seem familiar to anyone reading this forum?

Please contact me if you have any information regarding this!

Thank you.

P.S. His name is Bob.

Dear Gentle Sir:

It sounds like your aquarium environment is sound and it's safe to assume that Bob is not molting as the fecal matter should not be trailing from his anus at this point. We shall instead focus on Bob's last meal, an ironic "thanksgiving" if ever there were one.

The holiday menu appears to have been quite healthy: a meat (turkey), a starch (mashed potatoes), and a fat (gravy) in small, well-balanced portions equal to his size and dietary needs. Most crays would be lucky to get even shrimp tails after New Year's Eve, let alone a down-home thanksgiving meal. One might surmise that Bob, a lowly invertebrate held in the same esteem as a mosquito or a late-night snack, is simply dying of happiness.

Barring such a comfortable death, which is sadly unlikely, a few other possible causes may exist, each more insidious than the last.

Copper, known as Cu in the periodic table, is a soft metal used to kill invertebrates. In some cultures the family meal during holidays is cooked with copper. Immigrants used pennies to stuff their turkey, chicken, or game hen to symbolize the wealth and good fortune they wished for their family. After taking the copper out of the bird, the flesh was still saturated with high levels of the metal.

If your family cooked the turkey in this manner, you may have unknowingly introduced copper into your tank which then killed your cray. if this is true, then God help you.

Another possible explanation is Crayfish Plague. This disease eats at the cray's shell and soft innards, eventually resulting in the cray's death. Potatoes grown in Ireland often live in flooded fields where crays take up residence in the late Spring. During this time the potato crop would have absorbed the plague, harmless to the plant and humans but deadly to your cray when fed the mashed tuber. Check for spots on your cray's shell.

One last thing to consider is food poisoning. Did you or anyone else at your family dinner feel ill after the meal? Do you know for a fact that all of the food was cooked properly and handled by clean hands? Salmonella poisoning is responsible for more food-related illness than all other causes combined, and your crayfish is vulnerable to it too. E. coli could also be the culprit if someone didn't wash properly after defecating and may explain the "diarrhea" your cray is exhibiting.

Sadly for you, sir, I would guess Bob is dead by this point. It will be a very lonely holiday season. My condolences go out to you and your family during this dark time.