chameleon cray?

[unvmyplecos]

hi, guys i am barely ever in the invert section of ac so im sorry if i post a stupid question here, but i have a wild caught cray from buffalo creek (if any of you know where that is) and he was a dark gray almost the color of the creek bed, and i have put him in a tank with 3 minnows and a lil clown pleco, and he has adapted a blue hue, i was wondering if this is normal or is my cray "gifted"?

 

[unvmyplecos]

can anyone help me?

 

[crimsonmoon]

He might just be adapting to the surrounding colors, its pretty typical of most creatures. I have read (on this site i think) that even having a black background with discus will dim their colors and having a white background will literally brighten them.
Im not a crayfish person though so im not sure, just figured id take a stab in the dark for you.

 

[unvmyplecos]

well i aprectiate it this may be true considering the gravel is blue and his fav rock cave has a blue hue

 

[Darkness9876]

Crawdads will turn blue in an aquarium because there isnt as many dark sediments in the water and that makes them turn blue.

 

[Darkness9876]

I caught 15 2-4" specimens on friday to take to my lfs and they are even now turning blue. They will be quite a bit bluer next time they shed. However they will never reach that electric blue color.

 

[SchizotypalVamp]

Noto will prob be able to help with species identification (maybe PM a mod to change this to "native crayfish questions" ), and if not, link you to some very good forums on native inverts/fish. I would fear for the life of your plec and minnows.

 

[bluekrissyspike]

yup. blue is pretty normal and pretty cool. my local ones turn red in the aquarium, so i guess it depends on the species. i have a blue yabbie and he changes colour everytime he molts from bright blue to mostly orange and back again.