Blue crayfish

The blue crayfish (Procambarus alleni), sometimes called the electric blue crayfish, the sapphire crayfish, or the Florida crayfish, is a species of freshwater crayfish endemic to Florida in the United States. Its natural range is the area east of St. Johns River and all of Florida from Levy County and Marion County southwards, as well as on some of the Florida Keys.[2] It is included on the IUCN Red List as a species of Least Concern. The blue crayfish is frequently kept in freshwater aquaria.[3] In the wild, this species varies from brown-tan to blue, but the aquarium strain has been selectively bred to achieve a brilliant cobalt blue color.[4]

Procambarus alleni

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Family:
Cambaridae
Genus:
Procambarus
Subgenus:
Leconticambarus
Species:
P. alleni
Binomial name
Procambarus alleni
(Faxon, 1884) [1]

It should not be confused with the burrowing Cambarus monongalensis, also known as the blue crayfish, but native to Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.[5][6][7]

  • Pregnant mother cradling eggs inside her tail
  • Female dwelling in a small cave
  • Male dwelling in a small cave

References
  1. "Procambarus alleni". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  2. K. A. Crandall & J. W. Fetzner (May 17, 2003). "Procambarus (Leconticambarus) alleni (Faxon, 1884)".
  3. K. A. Crandall (2010). "Procambarus alleni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T153828A4550642. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153828A4550642.en.
  4. Aquarium Domain: Cobalt Blue Lobster (Procambarus alleni). Retrieved 26 July 2016
  5. Loughman, Lieb, Scott, Dillard & Sadecky (2017). Historical and current distribution of Appalachian primary burrowing crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacoidea: Cambaridae) in western Pennsylvania: a century of change or stasis? Journal of Crustacean Biology 37(5):1-9.
  6. Foltz II, Damis, Sadecky, Cyprych & Loughman (2016). The crayfish of Tomlinson Run State Park, Hancock County, West Virginia, USA. Freshwater Crayfish 2016: 1–8.
  7. Cordeiro, J.; Jones, T & Thoma, R.F. (2010). "Cambarus monongalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T153730A4537504. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153730A4537504.en.
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