Cloning has moved from the laboratories of scientist to the home aquariums of the hobbyist. In late 1997 the crayfish gods placed the crayfish of all crayfish in a German pet store. This crayfish repro-
duce parthenogenetically. Meaning the crayfish is a self-cloning all female species that doesn't need a mate to breed. The crayfish was given the name Marmorkreb meaning "marbled crayfish" for its marbled carapace. The marble crayfish is the first and only known parthenogenetic decapod crustacean
Scientist has classified the marble crayfish as Procambarus Fallax Forma Virginalis, closely related to the slough crayfish. They are extremely hardy and can live in all but the harshest water conditions. The marble crayfish grows a little over 3 inches and are semi aggressive. They don't chase fish unlike other crayfish, making them a good choice for a community tank. In fact this crayfish has no natural orgins in the wild. They are only found in freshwater aquariums. The ones found in the wild are thought to have been released by hobbyists.
Countries where Marmorkrebs are reported to be found in the wild.
Country Citations
Germany
Netherlands
Italy
Madagascar
Japan
Marten et al., 2004; Souty-Grosset et al 2006: Martin et al., 2010
Koese and Vletter, 2008; Souty-Grosset et al., 2006
Marzano et al., 2009
Jones et al., 2009; Kawai et al., 2009
Kawai and Takahata, 2010