# Dwarf Orange Crayfish...vs. Blue



## Swish (Dec 24, 2011)

*Orange vs. Blue*

Yes, different subspecies... orange is cambarellus patzcuarensis var. Orange, and blue is cambarellus diminutus. I would imagine that they would interbreed, as they are the same species, basically. Again, not being a genetics expert, but I would imagine the end result of interbreeding to be that eventually the offspring would regress back to wild splotchy brownish type of coloring, similar to neo shrimp. Experts please feel free to chime in and shoot that down. As to getting along, both are feisty, but so far, my blue adults are not as big as the orange.


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Swish said:


> orange is cambarellus patzcuarensis var. Orange, and blue is cambarellus diminutus. I would imagine that they would interbreed, as they are the same species.


If the info on the nomenclature above is accurate, two different scientific names means that they are different species, so there should be no cross-breeding.


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

I googled a bit and some sources claim they can interbreed, others say no. :confused1: For the heck of it I ended up ordering 3 of each. The oranges are definitely larger than the blues (which are more gray/tan, but apparently may become bluer with age and hard water--our water is pretty hard)...perhaps they're older. One orange guy looks to be about full size, already. He's (she's?) also really shy. I'm calling him/her "Big Pinchin'." :hihi:

So far not seeing much aggression. They all seem to have staked-out favorite little hiding/resting spots without drama. I've seen 2 empty bladder snail shells, so I am hoping that the CPOs are making snacks of the dumb things that are laying eggs all over the place.


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## pucksr (Jan 27, 2011)

TLE041 said:


> If the info on the nomenclature above is accurate, two different scientific names means that they are different species, so there should be no cross-breeding.


Species doesn't indicate interbreeding capability. Just look at all of the interbreeding that occurs with other decapods(shrimp). Species just means that these two have unique features which make them distinguishable from each other. 

As far as these two crayfish, I want to clarify something. There are a few crayfish that will turn blue on occasion. C. diminutus is just one of them. There are also a few species that are a bright and brilliant blue(but not dwarf). There are also several species of dwarf crayfish. In fact, North America is home to over 400 species of crayfish.

Dwarf Orange Crayfish are a bit special. They are like red cherry shrimp. They are a color variant of a normally brown species. Actually, just like cherry shrimp they seem to have a high degree of color morphology. There are also reports of a black color morph.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

> two different scientific names means that they are different species, so there should be no cross-breeding



So, mules don't really exist?


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## n25philly (Dec 12, 2013)

Zoomy said:


> I googled a bit and some sources claim they can interbreed, others say no. :confused1: For the heck of it I ended up ordering 3 of each. The oranges are definitely larger than the blues (which are more gray/tan, but apparently may become bluer with age and hard water--our water is pretty hard)...perhaps they're older. One orange guy looks to be about full size, already. He's (she's?) also really shy. I'm calling him/her "Big Pinchin'." :hihi:
> 
> So far not seeing much aggression. They all seem to have staked-out favorite little hiding/resting spots without drama. I've seen 2 empty bladder snail shells, so I am hoping that the CPOs are making snacks of the dumb things that are laying eggs all over the place.


A single CPO cleaned out one of my tanks of ramshorn snails, and that was with regular feedings, so they should do a good job on those snails.


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

n25philly said:


> A single CPO cleaned out one of my tanks of ramshorn snails, and that was with regular feedings, so they should do a good job on those snails.


Excellent...though I suspect 1 or both of my 2 smaller CPOs are cleaning out all other crustaceans in my tank. I had 10 RCS, I think I'm down to maybe 2 (have found a dead one on the floor of the tank the last 2 mornings. I initially thought they were getting sucked into the filter intake, but I covered that in a fine mesh media bag, just to make sure). Had 5 ghost shrimp. 1 must have been in bad shape when I put him in, as he only lasted only a few hours before turning cloudy. Now I think I'm down to the 2 largest. And 1 of my 4 Amanos was found dead, yesterday, but I don't know if it died of natural causes or in the pincers of a CPO. I had 3 little blue crays, but I think may be down to just 1 (though they do seem really good at hiding, as I thought I had lost 1 right away, then after a week I spotted all 3 at once). 

My largest CPO bit the substrate a few days ago. Very egg-laden female. I was bummed over that. I suspect the smaller 2 are both male, so no baby crays. Which is probably just as well, given what little murders they seem to be.


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## n25philly (Dec 12, 2013)

I've never kept them with shrimp, but everything I read said that while they will kill some shrimp, they are not prolific at it. It makes sense as well as they seem to only be good at hunting slow targets. It could be them, but I would also look for other possible reasons as well.


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

The only thing that stands out as a potential issue would be Co2. I'm at 3bps, but wonder if 2bps might be better for the inverts. By the end of 9 hours of injection my bubble counter is pretty light green. Fish are perfectly happy, but I know crustaceans can be pretty sensitive to higher levels of Co2. Eventually I'd like to invest in a PH controller, but it won't be until after the budget recovers a bit.


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