Electric Blue Crayfish (AKA Florida Hammer, Blue Crayfish, or Blue Lobster)

Battou · Feb 15, 2009

Taken through aquarium glass with Canon FD 85mm on Canon EF, ASA 200

Procambarus alleni

Bigger Here

ndredsox · Feb 15, 2009

Love those little guys! Had one with my old Oscars until it climbed up the filter tubes and onto the floor.

Battou · Feb 15, 2009

Yeah, Crayfish of any sort are known for being skilled escape artists.

KvnO · Feb 15, 2009

Battou said:
Yeah, Crayfish of any sort are known for being skilled escape artists.

Really, look what he did to that pirate ship!

I've never tried crayfish. Maybe I will one day.

Battou · Feb 15, 2009

KvnO said:
Really, look what he did to that pirate ship!

I've never tried crayfish. Maybe I will one day.

Yeah, I kept some of the common local crayfish some years ago but never got into anything like these guys simply due to the fact they do and will get out. This one belongs to my brother in law, he has this male and two females (who where buried during this session). Crayfish are so skilled at escaping it's not funny. I've seen them get out with nothing to climb and a tank with all openings securely covered. It's a real PITA to get up in the morning to find the cat munching on some seafood he found strolling around on the floor :lmao: I'd hate to invest in something like this guy and have that one happen. They are tough too, they have been known to cross land masses in the wild and can live for days out of the water also proving to be one of those major down sides to keeping them as pets and having them escape. If they get them selves hidden only to die later....Oh god the smell is horrendus. I made that mistake with the first group I kept for fishing.

But on the other hand, they are really cool to sit and watch as they reorginize the tank to their liking, kill feeder fishies and do battle with the others.

Battou · Feb 16, 2009

Nothing more?

Comments on composition, shortcomings or what ever?

KvnO · Feb 16, 2009

It's hard to say, honestly.

I find the subject interesting because I didn't know crayfish came in blue. The composition is fine, I'm not sure how it could be improved.

I could tell it was taken through an aquarium though, if that's a shortcoming.

Now that you've mentioned some of their behavior, it'd be cool to see some of that.

Battou · Feb 16, 2009

KvnO said:
It's hard to say, honestly.

I find the subject interesting because I didn't know crayfish came in blue. The composition is fine, I'm not sure how it could be improved.

I could tell it was taken through an aquarium though, if that's a shortcoming.

Truth be told, when I shoot threw aquarium glass or windows I list it as another peice of glass as if it where a filter with the lens and camera information, it is another peice of glass...not good glass but glass none the less

Well, a little bit of the hidden information about the composition, I personally would have liked to have gotten closer. All I had with me at the time was my FD 85mm f/1.8, Taken at minimum focusing distance this shot is cropped down considerably. Unprocessed shot is here, I think with out being to required to crop it so heavily would have been a little bit sharper reducing the apparent visibility (?) of the aquarium glass. I do intend to take more shots of these guys and will try using my shorter lenses so, we'll find out on that one.

KvnO said:
Now that you've mentioned some of their behavior, it'd be cool to see some of that.

Yeah, they are cool to watch, one of the few things I find worth getting an aquarium for. If you are going to look into keeping some crayfish for pets in the future I would definately advise just going out and catching some run of the mill wild brown ones locally and keeping them for a wile before investing in one from a pet shop. Their behaivor is the same and you will be able to afford to learn how to take care of them and keep them in the tank.

Oh, useful tip, if you do decide to get some. Something I do not believe they say in care taking FAQs, Do not reorginize the tanks, they are pickey and if they do not like the surroundings they will try to move. They move things around to their liking and if you go and move it back again and again they get pissed. My other sister who tried keeping some never listened to me and continued reorginizing her tank and she kept loosing them and finally gave up. The owner of this one is pretty good about that so I imagine these guys'll last a wile.