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Odd looking bulges on shell


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#1 Guest_davidjh2_*

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Posted 21 November 2012 - 04:07 PM

I noticed last year and this year that when I caught crayfish out of a spring fed stream up in northern NJ some of the crayfish had odd bulges on their shells. Other crayfish caught in different streams but in the same area maybe 4 miles away were normal looking. These are all Cambarus bartoni. The first 2 pictures are from a stream I sample down in the central part of Nj. and the last 2 are from the spring fed stream. Could it be parasites?
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Edited by davidjh2, 21 November 2012 - 04:08 PM.


#2 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 22 November 2012 - 12:17 AM

You should dissect one and let us know...

#3 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 22 November 2012 - 10:41 AM

Lifting weights? The last one appears to have huge Lats.

I would cut one open, I once found a wolf spider with a very distended abdomen. Inside, after much unraveling was a 24 inch horsehair worm.

Or could it be damage during the softshell stage though it looks awfully symmetrical for damage, or parasites.

#4 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 22 November 2012 - 11:35 AM

Where are these bulges? Are you sure you don't have C. acuminatus? Edges of those rostrum look pretty thick.

#5 Guest_davidjh2_*

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Posted 22 November 2012 - 12:14 PM

Where are these bulges? Are you sure you don't have C. acuminatus? Edges of those rostrum look pretty thick.


Look at the lighter patches on the last 2 crayfish. I have never seen them on any other C.bartoni. I wish they were another species of crayfish but the only Cambarus known to live in NJ are bartoni and diogenes.

One of the main reason I'm not a biologist is that I don't like cutting things open so a dissection isn't likely

#6 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 23 November 2012 - 11:07 AM

I'm with Matt -- looks like well-fed crays with bulging muscles on the verge of shedding.




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