Marbled Crayfish For Freaky Friday...!

What makes this critter so unusual is the fact that it seems to be a new comer to the system.

If you happen to come across one, do yourself a BIG favor and don't eat it! Who knows what the results could be! Pretty scary thought!

Marbled Crayfish

Photo credit: Ranja Andriantsoa

The most interesting thing about the marbled crayfish isn’t that it reproduces itself asexually; it’s that the species didn’t exist until sometime in the late 1990s. It only exists now thanks to a single mutation in a parent species that resulted in the speciation of a brand-new type of crayfish. These little critters are rather beautiful and have made their way into the pet market in Germany, but that presented a small problem: Marbled crayfish clone themselves by the hundreds!

A single female marbled crayfish can lay hundreds of eggs at one time, so people who place one into an aquarium soon find themselves in possession of more than they can handle. As a result, the species has become invasive all over the world, with especially damaging effects in places like Madagascar, where millions of clones threaten native wildlife. They have been compared to Star Trek ’s tribbles, which reproduce uncontrollably, and while they are interesting, they represent a dangerous threat to a number of ecosystems.

I wouldn't eat a mudbug if ya paid me, so there is nothing for me to worry about. Plus, I don't have an aquarium to put one of these critters in!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Mid 70s are predicted.