The variety of colours of the crayfish on New Guinea is really amazing. In the trade it is often problematic to assign the import animals exactly to any species, because the colouring is also very variable within the species and only rarely all specimens of an import look the same.
Be that as it may: the form we were able to import now has a black-brown shell and was therefore initially referred to by us as Cherax sp. “Black Scorpion”. But Chris Lukhaup identified it as a member of the Cherax sp. “Blue Moon” species complex. The legs are blue, the tail fan has a wide orange hem, the scissor tips are not orange, which is an important characteristic.
These crayfish become 12-15 cm long and, like most New Guinea crayfish, are quite peaceful contemporaries. An essential part of the food of these animals is of plant origin. Therefore, it depends very much on the feeding, whether they more or also less destroying the aquarium´plants. To be on the safe side, precious plants should not be kept in a Cherax aquarium.
For our customers: the animals have code 481475 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
