self cloning marbled crayfish origin?

[Fishnova]

I am really curious as to the origin of this remarkable being! I keep reading it was found in home aquaria, is this correct?

If this was a bred trait, that would really be something!

Anyone know anything about this?

[jetajockey]

If you are asking whether they were bred to be 'self cloning', no, it's something they evolved in nature. Selective breeding can pull different traits like size, colors, etc, but nothing that extreme.

Discovery of four natural clones in a crayfish species Procambarus clarkii

There is one known vertebrate that self clones as well, it is a type of killifish. (self cloning isn't the only neat thing that this species has adapted to do)
Zoologger: The amphibious fish that mates with itself - life - 25 August 2011 - New Scientist

[Fishnova]

Yes, and thank you for the links. This is fascinating stuff.

[zfaulkes]

It is absolutely correct that marbled crayfish (Marmorkrebs) were found by hobbyists first, who introduced them to scientists second. The only known wild populations are where they have been introduced by people.

There has never been any serious suggestion that someone specifically bred Marmorkrebs. If it was a pet owner, you would think that person would want to take credit, as pet owners are often proud of such things.

Asexual species can be bred from scratch in the lab, but it seems to be incredibly hard. One research team, working on asexual lizards, tried to do this for 29 years, failing all the time, before another team succeeded. Marmorkrebs: Celebrate diversity: Instant whiptail!

Much more about this on the research website I run, http://marmorkrebs.org.

[zfaulkes]

Jetajockey, there are far more asexual vertebrates than killifish: fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. The only group of vertebrates where you don't get asexuals is the mammals.

[jetajockey]

My apologies, I meant to say that it's the only self cloning fish I know of. I know there are self cloning lizards out there and I'm sure digging will bring up several different animals of the sort.