If you do plan on keeping a few Blue crayfish in the same aquarium, it’s a good idea to introduce all the crayfish at the same time. However, if you do decide to take a chance and keep several Electric blue crayfish together, you must keep them in a very large tank and be prepared to provide plenty of hiding places so that the crayfish can keep well away from each other. For that reason, we don’t recommend that you keep multiple specimens in the same aquarium unless you have experience in keeping rays. These creatures are highly territorial, and they can be very aggressive. Blue crayfish are borrowers, and they also like to hide away in caves and under rocky overhangs. BehaviorĮlectric blue crayfish are nocturnal animals that venture out at night to feed and scavenge. The areola is a small gap between the two pieces of the carapace and is not present on the Procambarus clarkii crayfish. The only difference between the two species is the areola on the back of the Blue crayfish’s carapace. The burrowing Cambarus monongalensis or Procambarus clarkii is also sometimes referred to as the Blue crayfish however, these animals are endemic to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. There is another species of crayfish that is almost identical to Procambarus alleni. If you’re in any doubt about the sex of a prospective purchase, ask an assistant in the fish store to help you. Females have a round-shaped sperm receptacle organ situated between the base of their last two pairs of legs. Male crayfish also have two “claspers” behind their legs that are used to transfer sperm during mating. Male Electric blue crayfish have very much bigger claws than female crayfish, and their tails are usually narrower too. It’s relatively easy to tell the boys from the girls when you’re choosing Blue crayfish to add to your setup. All colorways are generally speckled with dots or paler patches. However, in the wild, Procambarus alleni may also be found in a few other color morphs, including brown, white, orange, and red. Over the years, breeders and amateur enthusiasts have bred these crayfish to be a vibrant, bright shade of electric, cobalt blue, and the specimens that you find for sale in fish stores are always a bright blue color. These crayfish typically live for up to five years in captivity with the appropriate care and feeding. Procambarus alleni grows to around four to five inches in length, although some wild examples have been found that measure closer to seven inches long. Although these crayfish are primarily a freshwater species, they can be found living in brackish waters, where salinity levels can be up to 18ppt (parts per thousand). The creatures are also sometimes seen in California and parts of Europe, and it’s thought that these originate from released aquarium pets.īlue crayfish prefer still or very slow-moving water, and they can even survive during dry spells by burrowing down into the substrate, where they can utilize any moisture they find there to stay hydrated. These crayfish inhabit freshwater streams, ditches, marshland, flood plains, and wetlands. Procambarus alleni is a native species of Florida to the south of the panhandle. The Blue crayfish, Procambarus alleni, is also sometimes known as the: In this article, we tell you everything that you need to know about keeping and breeding the immensely popular Blue crayfish. That said, the Blue crayfish does make a fascinating pet. However, unfortunately, these quirky-looking animals are not suitable for life in a community tank, so you’ll need a species-specific setup. If you’d like to keep a truly beautiful creature and you fancy the idea of owning something a little bit different from the run-of-the-mill tropical fish that your friends have, how about a Blue crayfish? Blue crayfish are pretty easy to care for, and they’re not too picky when it comes to food and water quality, so we reckon a beginner would do well with one of these freshwater lobsters as a pet.
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