What kind of crayfish are these???

[PokeSephiroth]

Saw them in Tiger Lake in Belfair, they're pretty small, but I'm assuming that these are still really young, as I've seen bigger ones in the same lake. The ones pictured are about 1.5 inches in length... and the bigger ones where about 3-4 inches.
Really curious what kind of crayfish they are :bounce:

 

[Kaosu]

"Washington has only one native crayfish species, the signal crayfish (Pacifasticus leniusculus). It is fairly easily identified by its uniform brownish coloration."

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crayfish/

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Kaosu: Thanks!! I wasn't sure if they were signal crayfish or not. Thanks for the confirmation! Now, I wonder if they're okay to house with other fish (highly doubtful) . . . especially once they grow bigger.

And I'm pretty sure they're just going to snack on my cherry shrimp tank !!!

 

[PokeSephiroth]

upon further reading, it seems that they might not be signal crayfish, the article states that they are fairly easily identified by their uniform brownish coloration, however, in the pictures I posted, one of the crayfish's claws were different colored, than it's body.

Then a totally different crayfish was a deep bluish color... maybe it's because they're still really young, which is causing the different colorations. Hmmm...interesting.

 

[Kaosu]

they will eat shrimp, plants and fish ..they are quite the little hunters..and escape artists make sure you have a tight hood and tape around any lines coming out of the tank or they will climb out.

and like other native fish they will need cool water..in the 60s nothing over 75 or they will just die on you, lots of oxygen in the water.

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Thanks for all the info Kaosu Have you housed Signal Crawfish before? I currently have them acclimating in a 5 gallon bucket, no thermometer, and they seem to be doing well so far. I provided lots of hiding spaces for them in the bucket for the time being.

Looks like I won't be putting them in with the cherries OR my community tank, that's for sure! Hahahahaha

 

[Kaosu]

yup housed native crays and a few other native fish

<--------------------my monster ^_^

its important to keep them in cooler waters. with plenty of O2 the warmer the water the more O2 they will need make sure the surface of the water has allot of agitation. best thing to keep them cool is keep the tank near the floor, and if it gets to warm a window fan facing down on to the tank on high will keep the temps down.

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Heeeeee!!! So exciting to see if I can take care of them. ^_^

 

[Kaosu]

what are you going to be keeping it in?

 

[PokeSephiroth]

I've got a spare 10 gallon tank, thankfully I don't have to worry about getting another thermometer

There's currently 2 of them, about 1.5" in length. If the tank is too small, I will just return them to Tiger Lake.

 

[Kaosu]

10 should be fine for them both right now.

don't release them once you have taken them, if they have came in to contact with anything you use in your tropical tanks it could potentially release diseases and such in to the wild.

you shouldn't have to worry about it in a 10 gallon they will be fine for a while...when they shed one will probably just pull the other one out of hiding and eat it ..^_^

but once you bring something home please never release it .

 

[aquaman95]

Yeah i think it is illegal to release native and non native wildlife.

 

[Kaosu]

Yeah i think it is illegal to release native and non native wildlife.

very

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Oh, interesting O_O . . . bah, if only I could find some elodea in the wild. I don't want to spend $4.50 for a bundle of like, 3 stems at Farm Land. UGH...

Going to try to find some at Lake Union one of these days, and smuggle it home. HEHEHE...
Gotta quarantine it though for quite a while before introducing it to my tanks though.