“Marmorkrebs” is an informal name given to marbled crayfish that were discovered by hobbyists in Germany in the late 1990s.
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” roughly translates from German as “marbled crab.” The scientific name for Marmorkrebs is Procambarus virginalis or Procambarus fallax f. virginalis; they are an asexual relative of slough crayfish (P. fallax) that live across Florida and southern Georgia in the United States. There are no known native populations of Marmorkrebs in North America; the only known cases of them in the wild are where they have been introduced by humans.
Marmorkrebs are also an invasive species. They have been introducted in many places, and have established populations in at least three countries, damaging agriculture and threatening native species. Marmorkrebs should not be used for bait (see here), kept in outdoor tanks or ponds (Marmorkrebs can migrate over land; see here), or placed in any other situation where they could be released into natural ecosystems. In North America, Marmorkrebs are prohibited in Missouri (since 2011) and Tennessee (since 2015). The European Union banned possession, trade, transport, production, and release of Marmorkrebs (and several other crayfish species) in 2016.
North American researchers can contact Zen Faulkes to get Marmorkrebs for research. Establishment of the Faulkes lab Marmorkrebs colony was supported by the National Science Foundation (award 0813581).
Cover gallery
Research papers
For a more comprehensive list of research papers, click here.
Císar P, Saberioon M, Kozák P, Pautsina A. 2018. Fully contactless system for crayfish heartbeat monitoring: undisturbed crayfish as bio-indicator. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical255(1): 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2017.07.160
Gutekunst J, Andriantsoa R, Falckenhayn C, Hanna K, Stein W, Rasamy J, Lyko F. 2018. Clonal genome evolution and rapid invasive spread of the marbled crayfish. Nature Ecology and Evolution2(3): 567–573. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0467-9
Herrmann A, Schnabler A, Martens A. 2018. Phenology of overland dispersal in the invasive crayfish Faxonius immunis (Hagen) at the Upper Rhine River area. Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems419: 30. https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2018018
Maguire I, Klobucar G, Žganec K, Jelic M, Lucic A, Hudina S. 2018. Recent changes in distribution pattern of freshwater crayfish in Croatia - threats and perspectives. Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems419: 2. https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2017053
Marenkov O, Prychepa M, Kovalchuk J. 2018. The influence of heavy metal ions on the viability and metabolic enzyme activity of the marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis (Lyko, 2017).
International Letters of Natural Sciences70: 11-23. https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILNS.70.11
Nentwig W, Bacher S, Kumschick S, Pyšek P, Vilŕ M. 2018. More than “100 worst” alien species in Europe. Biological Invasions20(6): 1611–1621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1651-6
Nischik ES, Krieger J. 2018. Evaluation of standard imaging techniques and volumetric preservation of nervous tissue in genetically identical offspring of the crayfish Procambarus fallax cf. virginalis (Marmorkrebs). PeerJ6: e5181. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5181
Scholz S, Richter S, Wirkner CS. 2018. Constant morphological patterns in the hemolymph vascular system of crayfish (Crustacea, Decapoda). Arthropod Structure & Development47(3): 248-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2017.12.005
Velisek J, Stara A, Zuskova E, Kubec J, Buric M, Kouba A. 2018. Chronic toxicity of metolachlor OA on growth, ontogenetic development, antioxidant biomarkers and histopathology of early life stages of marbled crayfish. Science of The Total Environment643: 1456-1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.309
Vogt G. 2018. Investigating the genetic and epigenetic basis of big biological questions with the parthenogenetic marbled crayfish: A review and perspectives. Journal of Biosciences43(1): 189-223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-018-9741-x
Vogt G. 2018. Annotated bibliography of the parthenogenetic marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis, a new research model, potent invader and popular pet. Zootaxa4418(4): 301-352. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4418.4.1
Vogt G, Dorn NJ, Pfeiffer M, Lukhaup C, Williams BW, Schulz R, Schrimpf A. 2018. In-depth investigation of the species problem and taxonomic status of marbled crayfish, the first asexual decapod crustacean. BioRxiv: 26 June 2018. https://doi.org/10.1101/356170 [Unreviewed pre-print]
Zeng Y, Yeo DCJ. 2018. Assessing the aggregated risk of invasive crayfish and climate change to freshwater crabs: A Southeast Asian case study. Biological Conservation223: 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.04.033
Missouri has added Marmorkrebs to its prohibited species list, effective 1 March 2011. Read more here. Tennessee designated Marmorkrebs as “Class V wildlife,” meaning they can only be kept by zoos, effective October 2015. Read more here and here.
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Weiperth A, Gál B, Kuříková P, Langrová I, Kouba A, Patoka J. Risk assessment of pet-traded decapod crustaceans in Hungary with evidence of Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) in the wild. 
