Swamp dwarf crayfish

Care at a glance

Overview

A striped nano crayfish that holds its own in a planted tank beside shrimp and small fish without hunting them. Keep a colony in 20 liters with leaf litter, plants and small caves. It needs no heater in a normal room and breeds without help. Feed sinking pellets, blanched vegetables and occasional frozen food. Keep it away from slow, long-finned fish, which are the one thing it will pester.

In the wild

Cambarellus puer lives in the swamps and backwaters of the Mississippi valley in the southern United States, in warm, still, heavily vegetated water. Keep it at 18 to 26 degrees Celsius and pH 6.5 to 8.0, with cover and enough hardness to build a shell.

Good to know

Cambarellus puer reaches about 3 centimeters and carries dark lateral striping along the body. Females carry eggs and then miniature crayfish under the abdomen. Molting is when it grows and when it is most vulnerable, so a crayfish that has vanished for a few days is usually hiding under cover with a soft shell.

Did you know

Puer means boy in Latin, a describer's joke about a crayfish that never grows up.

Common questions

Related species

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  Brazos dwarf crayfish

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• 

  Cajun dwarf crayfish

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• 

  Orange dwarf crayfish

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• 

  Marbled crayfish

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• 

  Electric blue crayfish

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