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Marmorkrebs are cloning crayfish
Marmorkrebs are cloning crayfish
“Marmorkrebs” is an informal name given to marbled crayfish that were discovered by hobbyists in Germany in the late 1990s. “Marmorkrebs” roughly translates from German as “marbled crab.” The scientific name for Marmorkrebs is Procambarus virginalis (previously Procambarus fallax f. virginalis). They are an asexual relative of slough crayfish (Procambarus fallax) that live across Florida and southern Georgia in the United States. The only known cases of Marmorkrebs in the wild are where they have been introduced by humans.
Marmorkrebs are parthenogenetic: they are all females, and reproduce without sex. This is the only decapod crustacean found that reproduces only this way, giving it incredible potential as a model organism for research. Some of the advantages of Marmorkrebs are that they are genetically identical, reproduce at high rates, and are easy to care for.
Marmorkrebs are invasive
Marmorkrebs are invasive
Marmorkrebs have been introduced and established populations in many countries. They can damage agriculture and threaten native species. Marmorkrebs should not be used for bait, kept in outdoor tanks or ponds (Marmorkrebs can migrate over land), or placed in any other situation where they could be released into natural ecosystems.
The European Union banned Marmorkrebs (i.e., possession, trade, transport, production, and release) and some other crayfish species in 2016. The United Kingdom kept this prohibition after its departure from the European Union in 2020.
Japan banned breeding and selling Marmorkrebs (and other crayfish species) in 2020.
In North America, Marmorkrebs are prohibited in:
Georgia, USA (since 2022)
Idaho, USA (since 2010)
Missouri, USA (since 2011)
Tennessee, USA (since 2015)
Michigan, USA (since 2020)
Ohio, USA (since 2020)
Saskatchewan, Canada (since 2020)
Ontario, Canada (since 2022)
Minnesota, USA (since 2024)
In 2022, one person in the US plead guilty to selling Marmorkrebs.
Recent research papers
Recent research papers
More papers available in “Publications” tab at top of page.
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
Balzani P, Musil M, Weiperth A, Bláha M, Kubec J, Ruokonen TJ, Ercoli F, Bányai ZM, Buřič M, Veselý L, Kouba A. Seasonal changes in trophic ecology of co-occurring freshwater invasive species at a thermal locality. Hydrobiologia: In press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-025-05872-8
2025 research papers
2025 research papers
🔓 Aluma MO, Kaldre K, Strand DA, Hurt M, Pukk L. 2025. eDNA-based detection of invasive crayfish and crayfish plague in Estonia. Environmental DNA 7(3): e70107. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.70107
🆕🔓 Buřič M, Ložek F, Görner T, Čuprová V, Kožený P, Mojžišová M, Vlach P, Štruncová E, Petrusek A, Kouba A, Svobodová J. 2025. Difficult to deal with: Attempts for eradication of marbled crayfish from a small urban pond. Management of Biological Invasions 16(2): 443–464. https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2025.16.2.08
🔓 Coutinho Carneiro V, Schäfer I, Diaz-Larrosa JJ, Böhl E, Hahn T, Hempelmann J, Venkatesh G, Nagarajan S, Roy S, Ng YL, Böhl F, Zibek S, Lyko F. Establishment and characterization of biofloc culture for marbled crayfish. Frontiers in Aquaculture 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/faquc.2025.1580560
Eiler A, Stensrud E, Osman O. 2025. Detection of marbled crayfish Procambarus fallax. protocols.io. https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.q26g78199lwz/v1
🆕🔓 Ložek F, Staňová AV. 2025. Conjoined twins in marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis Lyko, 2017 (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae). Journal of Crustacean Biology 45(2): ruaf033. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcbiol/ruaf033
🔓 Kaur D, Das K, Kubec J, Buřič M. Stress conditions extend maternal care and delay juvenile development in crayfish. Current Zoology 71(1): 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae017
Kaur D, Khan A, Kubec J, Breithaupt T, Buřič M. 2025. Efficacy of administration routes in crayfish: Comparative analysis of intracoelomic and intrapericardial techniques using fluorescein dye. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology 343: 95-104. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2872
🆕 Kronenberger JA, Wilcox TM, Schwartz MK. 2025. SmartScreen-AIS: A high-throughput qPCR chip for nationwide surveillance of aquatic invasive species. Environmental DNA 7(3): e70144. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.70144
Sheppard NLM, Ricciardi A. 2025. Influence of warming on the functional responses of invasive omnivores, Procambarus crayfishes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 82: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2024-0334
Teesalu P, Muuga JM, Hurt M, Kaldre K, Nõges T, Ercoli F. Effects of temperature on marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis, Lyko 2017) invasion ecology. Hydrobiologia 852: 3541–3558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-025-05828-y
This site is maintained by Zen Faulkes and was last updated 10 July 2025.
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