When a team of scientists studying the brightly colored and common New Guinea crayfish ordered some new animals for their lab, they were in for a bit of a surprise. They uncovered a species of the lobster-like crustacean that is completely new to science. This species is called the dusty crayfish (Cherax pulverulentus) and is described in a study published January 9 in the journal Zootaxa.
These crayfish–also called crawfish or crawdads–are native to New Guinea. Their cool hues have made them popular aquarium pets in Europe, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States over the past two decades. Pet traders have been selling the crayfish under several different names, but scientists had yet to formally classify most of them.
“Among others, my team monitors the pet trade (aquarium trade) because wild-captured crayfish are exported from the island of New Guinea to the rest of the world in huge quantities,” Jiří Patoka, a study co-author and zoologist at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, tells Popular Science. “Some of them are formally undescribed and assessment of their population trend is thus impossible.”
In the new study, Patoka and his colleagues bought a shipment of Indonesian crayfish in March 2023. While they were sifting through their shipment, they found several of the brightly-colored crayfish. They took a closer look at six of these crayfish and analyzed their DNA. The genetic analysis revealed that these were a new species: the dusty crayfish.
Dusty crayfish generally have smooth bodies, large eyes, and claws. They also have two general color forms–purple and blue. The purple form crayfish have turquoise bodies and purple spots, with joints and tails in a pale white hue. The blue form crayfish are darker and their joints and tails are orange.
“Like the other members of this genus, this crayfish is aggressive, strictly freshwater (inhabiting streams and maybe also lake ecosystem), probably moderately burrowing, omnivorous, and gonochorist,” explains Patoka. “Its estimated lifespan is 5 to 10 years, estimated total body length is 12-17 cm [4.7 to 6.6 inches].”
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They are also a burrowing species and are found on the Indonesian part of New Guinea. THis island north of Australia also includes mainland Papua New Guinea. Other than that, not much else is known about how this species lives in the wild. The team did find one dusty crayfish in a thermal spring in Hungary. They believe that this stray fish either escaped from its aquarium or was released there by its owner.
Patoka says that his team will continue to monitor the pet trade. They are also working with Institut Pertanian Bogor and Universitas Terbuka in Indonesia to arrange a research trip to study the dusty crayfish in its natural habitat and possibly collect some more scientifically undescribed species.
“Crayfish are just one group of awesome animals native to New Guinea, the island facing many environmental risks. In this regard, we believe that our findings will help to highlight the importance of this island from a biodiversity perspective and more conservation activities will apply there,” says Patoka. “Last but not least, I would like to alert aquarium owners: do not release your pets outdoors!”
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