A species of Cherax that is quite popular in the hobby for at least a decade (we are aware of imports since 2008) is Cherax sp. „Hoa Creek“, sometimes also called C. sp. „Irian Jaya“ or C. sp. „Red Coral“. The exact origin of these crayfish was totally unknown. They appeared in the market often mixed up with other forms of Cherax. So it became likely that all of them would belong to the very same, but quite variable species. When in 2015 the „Blue Moon“ was described under the scientific names of Charx pulcher/gherrardii (both are obviously synonyms, the name pulcher has priority), most people thought that the „Hoa Creek“ would belong to that species, too.
Finally, in march 2017 the „Hoa Creek“ was described as a separate species on its own. The authors were successful in detecting the place of origin. According to them „Hoa Creek“ occurs endemically (which means it cannot be found anywhere else) in the catchment of the Warsamson river in the western part of the Vogelkop peninsula (Kepala Burung). The Vogelkop peninsula belongs to Irian Jaya (Indonesian part of New Guinea). The new species has been named after the river: Cherax warsamsonicus Lukhaup, Eprilurahman & von Rintelen, 2017. The original description is free available here: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/11847/
The closest relative of C. warsamsonicus is said to be C. misolicus Holthuis, 1949.
For our customers: the animals have code 481453 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
