I just emptied out my dwindling bank account

[Terran]

I recently convinced someone from germany to ship me some Marmorkrebs!(Marbled Crayfish)....Ill get two of them but itll cost me a total of 85$(damn shipping and handling)... Hes shipping them tommorrow Tuesday Oct 23...I hope that at least one of them survives then hopefully soon Ill have more than I know what to do with.... They should show up in a week or so...So wish me luck on my shipment!! Heres a little info on the suckas if anyone is interested Abstract Recently, we briefly reported on the first case of parthenogenesis in the decapod Crustacea which was found in the Marmorkrebs or marbled crayfish, a cambarid species of unknown geographic origin and species identity. Curiously, this animal is known only from aquarium populations, where it explosively propagates. By means of light and electron microscopic techniques we have now investigated the reproductive components of this crayfish, using more than 100 specimens ranging from hatchling to repeatedly spawned adult. Additionally, we documented its principal life stages. Our results revealed that the external sexual characters and also the gonads of the marbled crayfish are purely female, making this fast-reproducing species a good model for investigating female reproductive features in crayfish. Testicular tissues, ovotestes, or male gonoducts, gonopores, or gonopods were never found, either in small juveniles or large adult specimens, confirming the parthenogenetic nature of this crayfish. Parthenogenesis may have arisen spontaneously or by interspecific hybridization since Wolbachia-like feminizing microorganisms were not found in the ovaries. The external sexual characters of the marbled crayfish are first recognized in Stage 4 juveniles and are structurally complete 2 months after hatching in specimens of 2 cm total length. In the same life stage the ovary is fully differentiated as well, although the oocytes are in previtellogenic and primary vitellogenic stages only. The architecture of the mature ovary and also the synchronous maturation of cohorts of primary vitellogenic oocytes by secondary vitellogenesis are in general agreement with data published on ovaries of bisexual crayfish. New results were obtained with respect to the muscular nature of the ovarian envelope and its extensive proliferation after the first spawning, the distribution of hemal sinuses in the ovarian envelope and in the interstitium around the oogenetic pouches, the high transport activity of the follicle cells, and the colonization of oogenetic pouches by previtellogenic oocytes that originate in the germaria. Investigation of the nuclei of oocytes in the germaria and oogenetic pouches revealed no signs of meiosis, as usually found in females of bisexual decapods, suggesting that parthenogenesis in the marbled crayfish might be an apomictic thelytoky. The detection of new rickettsial and coccidian infections in the ovary and further organs raises fears that the marbled crayfish might endanger native European species by transmission of pathogens once escaped into the wild.

[kortick]

good luck man it may be costly but it is a really great hobby and impressive too it is good to have something to do that you enjoy it fills the holes between all the other things we do cuz we have to any word on that govt job you were telling us about?

[Terran]

any word on that govt job you were telling us about? Nah bastards havent contacted me....looks like Ill have to get some ****ty job...

[Eyebiter]

Sounds like a scifi movie of the week Crayfish Terror Crawdad Apocalypse Crawfish Cataclysm

[Terran]

Sounds like a scifi movie of the week Crayfish Terror Crawdad Apocalypse Crawfish Cataclysm Apparently in some places people released them from their homes and these crays have anniliated the native populations...

[deadpunk]

are they good with butter? LOL. Just yankin' you Terran. I wish I had time to maintain a kickass aquarium. I'd love one, but I'm afraid they little fishies would die in my lax care. Oh well...

[Cody]

now that your account is empty go out and win the lottery

[capncnut]

Never thought Crayfish could be so interesting. I hate the little suckers myself.