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Marbled Crayfish — printable fact sheet
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Marbled Crayfish
Procambarus virginalis
Procambarus virginalis is, as far as anyone can tell, an animal that did not exist before about 1995. It appeared in the German aquarium trade, where hobbyists noticed a crayfish that was reproducing without any males present, and genetic work later showed why: it is triploid, c…
Did you know?
- Every marbled crayfish in the world is a clone, sharing identical genetic material with all others.
- Because all marbled crayfish are genetically identical, differences between individuals in size, colour and lifespan can only come from environment or epigenetics - which makes them a favourite model for studying how identical genomes produce different animals. A single crayfish can produce hundreds of eggs and reach maturity in months, so one animal dumped in a pond is enough to establish a permanent population. They are also being studied as a model for clonal cancer, since a tumour is likewise an asexually expanding clone.
What I learned
Draw the marbled crayfish
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