Mixing Crayfish Species

[CrawChuck]

I've been reading past posts from a search on crayfish. Forgive me if this has been mentioned and I missed it. All Native American Crayfish are carriers of Crayfish Plague. It is very important to never mix species from North America and species from Australia...Yabbie, Red Claw, Marron, etc. The plague will kill non native crays. Don't even let the Aussie crays in a tank which housed NA crays or use water from a source which contains NA crays. Entire species overseas have been wiped out from NA crays being introduced into their non native environments.

 

[DeFeKt]

Our aussie "crays" are so hardy you could throw them in a chlorinated pool and they would survive.
Yabbies and Koonacs are pests and farmers are always battling jammed pumps, rotting water supplies and the taking over of their Marron damns to these little critters.
Marron are not so hardy..
some info http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/fishtales/crayfish/index.php

 

[CrawChuck]

I don't intend to start an argument over the hardiness of your crays. I have a bunch of them! The intent was to point out they are succeptible to the plague virus carried by native North American crays. Cherax Quadricarinatus-Red Claw are considered the tropical of the bunch requiring warmer temperatures which is said to keep the virus in dormancy. Entire Red Claw farms in the United States have been wiped out due to attempted mixed species in the same systems. I only intended to point this out to the few crayfish owners here who might not be aware.

 

[DeFeKt]

interesting.
did you import those red claws?

Matt.

 

[QTOFFER]

I knew that you shouldn't feed crays fresh or frozen shrimp because of transmissible diseases, but I didn't know about a native American crayfish plague. Is it viral? Does it in any way affect the N. American crays, or are they just carriers?

 

[CrawChuck]

The Red Claws I have now came from Stick Fins Fish Farm in Elkton Florida. Myself and a group of others across the country and Canada are setting up an import of Walkamin Strain Red Claw directly from a grower in Australia. The North American Crayfish Plague does not affect our native crays at all, they are all carriers only. European Native Cray populations were decimated to near extinction in the early 1900's by North American crays arriving in ship ballast. We replaced their native losses by exporting the large West Coast Signal Crayfish which they now enjoy to the extent of those who eat crayfish. Others consider it a pest. Australian Authorities strictly prohibit the importation of all NA cray species.

Edit...Many states within the US including mine enforce regulations pertaining to import and farming/keeping of non-native cray species. Particularly Red Claw may only be raised in enclosed recirculating systems in my state. These regulations seem moot to me since they do not include casual aquarium use. We are discussing different methods of enclosed intensive stocking systems.