Alter40's 10g Native tank

[alter40]

I got some new pictures tonight. I put a few pieces of an algae wafer in for them to eat. Then I had to leave for a few days and when I came back there was nasty crap in the tank from it so I had to clean up. I had to remove all of the one plant that I had in there but the one that seems to be growing really well seems ok. Here are some updated pictures of the tank and then some better pictures of my cray for some identification help.





There is a parasite on the cray that you can see in this picture and it is just above the next to last leg on his right side. I have read that many wild crays will have these, but does anyone know if these will cause any problems or how to get rid of them?

[Big Vine]

Nice pics! Definitely female.
After digging around on the web a bit, I believe it to be Cambarus bartonii, but I'm not certain. I'd say you'd have a better chance of getting a better I.D. over on the bluecrayfish forum, but I know they're gonna wanna see male form I gonopods for a more positive I.D. Still, I'd post there if you're really curious to find out exactly what it is.

Now go catch some more so we can see what else is out there!
BV

[alter40]

I have actually posted these pictures on a native forum and was told that "The gonopods as I can see them are indicative of the Cambarus group. Based on appearance of ischeal hooks and gonopod tips they are form II (sexually incompetent), so gonopods will not be at their best value for species ID. Get them to molt into a form I (sexually competent) instar and you will have the ideal speciman to investigate."

I think I may post on the cray forum to see what they say there though.

[Big Vine]

Well, maybe it is male after all, lol.
It's usually pretty easy for me to tell, but the light coloration all sort of blurs together in those underside pics, which makes it tricky to distinguish. Either way, I find it astounding that they're able to make all of those claims about 'gonopods' based on the pics I'm seeing here in this thread. They must have better eyes than I do! Like I said, perhaps the pic is playing tricks on me.

EDIT: Just took another look at that 2nd-to-last pic, and I think I can sort of see what they're claiming about the gonopods. Now that I think about it, the bird's eye view of the tail shows that it is not flared out enough along the edges to be indicative of female. Also, the swimerrettes don't appear to be 'feathery' enough to be female.

At least I got the genus right...hopefully...
BV

[HAAA]

wow alter your native tank looks nice i wish the river i live close by had some interesting fish

[alter40]

Thanks for the help BV. I really know nothing at all about identifying crays yet or exactly what I'm looking for. I'm just happy that I have the cray in my tank now and he seems to be making himself a happy home. I have been away from home for a couple of days and I came back to find the gravel in one corner almost all cleaned away in a pile but I guess that spot wasn't right for him. He has a spot where there are two rock under the driftwood and the pretty much has hollowed out a nice big spot under the rocks. I was watching him today and every couple of minutes he would come out with about 4 or 5 pieces of gravel in his claws and he would throw them on the pile then go back to work under the rocks. I don't have my camera with me today though unfortunately, but hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of him working again some other time.

Thanks HAAA, today marks the start of trout season here in Pennsylvania and that means most of the water here is game for collecting minnows so I'm hoping I will get a chance to catch some fish for this tank soon.

Also I does anybody know the best food for crays? I put a little of an algae wafer which got ignored and made a mess. Do I need to get some sinking pellets or something for him or something else? Thanks!

[brian1973]

did you figure out what that parasite is and how to get rid of it

[alter40]

Not yet. I don't think that they are an issue though. It may be gone with a molt I'm hoping, but from what I have read about wild caught crays, they usually always some parasites on them.

[alter40]

My cray molted sometime over the past few days and is no longer the dark color as before but now seems to be more of a nice red color. Here are some new pictures that hopefully can help to better identify it.

Here are the remains of the molt


Here are a few new pictures that show the new colors and hopefully some better pics to help with the ID of it.

[Big Vine]

Okay, first off...
Excellent pics of his underside! Most definitely male!

Truth of the matter is that color changes can happen a lot in crays for varying reasons; many of which are environment-related. Either way, it is not a sound method for identification purposes. Sure, familiarities with various colors along with patterning can often provide one with a fairly decent narrowing down of things based on a quick glance at the specimen in question. But for an accurate I.D., we will need close, clear pics of form I gonopods (which you would need to raise using a toothpick or similar instrument).

Looks good!
BV