Cambarellus diminutus - why gone from USA

spypet

spypet

AC Members
Jan 12, 2011
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NY, 11375
I've been looking for Cambarellus diminutus to host, and noticed something odd.
this USA native dwarf crayfish is traded and sold cheap in Germany and Europe,
but nobody seems to have it in the USA itself. how does stuff like this happen?
I'd understand if the Europeans and Asians over the years hybridized this cray
in favor of some non native color or marking, but that's not the case here.

35005.jpg
 
People rarely appreciate and keep species native to their locale. NA Sunfish are very popular in Europe as well and rarely kept here.
 
the German's are coming

as ridiculous as this seems to be doing over a US native crayfish,
I'm currently negotiating on a German forum to get some crayfish.
so if anyone SERIOUSLY wants Diminutus, post on this thread and
I'll will contact you privately - but be ready for sticker shock as
importing from overseas is never cheap :22_yikes: spypetATgmailDOTcom

it's funny how this things happen... years ago I was begging the German's
to ship me some assassin snails - and now US Hobbyists are awash in them.
I hope I can find a domestic keeder before I'm stuck with overseas inbreds.
 
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you might want to be a little careful before bringing them in. they are listed on the IUCN Red List as "data deficient," which i think means that someone is worried about them but can't prove anything. (they may have been classified as "endangered 15 years ago and then reclassified)

they are NOT protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

however, it may be illegal to import them into your state. Here in CA it is illegal to import live specimens of any crayfish in the Cambaridae family except for 2 local native species. (We hate burrowers, apparently.) Similar rules may apply to you.
 
dbosman - do they even have the internet in Alabama yet?
what special interest forum would they frequent - hunting?

pbeemer - thanks for the info. I doubt diminutus left the
domestic hobby because of any of that, it's just that CPO's
are so much more attractively colored, at still only 4cm.

I found this German petshop who is considering my request.
http://www.fraku-aquaristik.de/xanario_pinfo.php?language=de&cPath=42_93&products_id=185
he does not seem to have anything else worth ordering.
his price is high - I've seen pairs for that much, but if
he'll DHL them 2-5 days properly packed, it's worth it.

on the German forum discussion, they said it breeds
pretty easily, which may explain why it's cheap there,
and maybe why it's not really endangered here at all.
 
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Franku got back to me. he wants 7€ each crayfish, and 15€ to 2-5day airmail
them, plus 4% paypal fees, so that would come out to $60usd for 4 crayfish.

his crayfish price is double what it should be, but nobody else will ship these.
so unless anyone here has a better plan, I'll probably do this come Monday.
 
no diminutus

dbosman - :thm:
thanks for sharing your google links,
but honestly, I've done all that already,
and few if anyone discusses c.diminutus.

my Franku order is delayed a week because he's getting fresh stock in on Tuesday,
so we decided to wait till Monday Jan'24 to ship, so I will continue to use that time
to troll the forums you indicated, and others I have bookmarked this past Month, :nilly:
at this point I've invested so much time looking, I'd rather just pay and move on.
 
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