Wild blue crayfish- strange color pattern

[Shadowfire]

Hi everyone. My pond flooded today and got some rainwater/pond water from other places washed into it. Every year weird things wash into it (the year before last it was a huge red fish, then thousands of newts, now this). I found a crayfish struggling against the current. It is exactly the same as out regular crayfish (white stream crayfish) except for the color + unusual pattern. I am aware of how rare the are in the wild. Does anybody know what to label this color/pattern as, how rare it is, and if I should breed it with a regular cray to have a chance for some strange babies? Also does anyone know if it's male or female? I have included pics of the tail section.
Thanks!
Name ideas also welcome.

 

[R2elk]

Hi everyone. My pond flooded today and got some rainwater/pond water from other places washed into it. Every year weird things wash into it (the year before last it was a huge red fish, then thousands of newts, now this). I found a crayfish struggling against the current. It is exactly the same as out regular crayfish (white stream crayfish) except for the color + unusual pattern. I am aware of how rare the are in the wild. Does anybody know what to label this color/pattern as, how rare it is, and if I should breed it with a regular cray to have a chance for some strange babies? Also does anyone know if it's male or female? I have included pics of the tail section.
Thanks!
Name ideas also welcome.

Female

http://www.bluecrayfish.com/gender.htm

 

[Fishkeeper]

That's a color mutation where it's missing some of the pigments that would normally hide the blue. Definitely worth breeding with a regular cray, though the blue may be recessive. Worth a shot!

 

[Shadowfire]

That's a color mutation where it's missing some of the pigments that would normally hide the blue. Definitely worth breeding with a regular cray, though the blue may be recessive. Worth a shot!

I released it into a kiddie pool pond until I can find a male.

 

[cassie123]

Cool!

 

[Shadowfire]

I have bred crayfish before (you might be asking why I was wondering what gender it is; I asked just to make sure because I don't want to mess around with the blue) so this should be less difficult; the real problem is finding a male.
Any name ideas? I was thinking Blu (once I find a male) and Jewel from the movie Rio because they are BLUE and very RARE. Any other ideas? I already have a betta named Jewel so I'm welcome to other name ideas. (By the way my bettas just had babies!)

 

[Fishkeeper]

I really doubt you'll find another blue one. Your best bet is to find a normal one, breed those, then breed some of the resulting offspring (if none are blue) to the original blue female. One generation of inbreeding won't hurt them any, and if it's a recessive gene, that's how you get it to pop out.

 

[Shadowfire]

Do any of y'all have any plans for a crayfish trap? I have heard of the plastic bottle one and the results were pathetic. I have small-gauge wire on hand.

 

[Fishkeeper]

The bottle ones should work. If they don't, you don't have good enough bait, or the trap wasn't anchored enough and was moving.
The best design for crayfish traps is the bottle trap shape, but with mesh of some sort. An enclosed space with bait inside, not reachable from outside, with a funnel leading inside. The funnel shouldn't touch the bottom of the trap, or they'll climb out.
Alternately, if you have a long piece of soft mesh, a couple of poles, and some weights, you can make a seine net.

 

[centrarchid]

The blue coloration could also be a function of diet. I see it frequently with crayfish where there is little in the way of carotenoid rich plants at the base of the food web. If am correct, she will color up to normal when fed greens or a feed designed for algae eating fishes.