A unexampled metal money of freshwater crayfish with a vividly purplish shell and bright blue claws has been discovered in Indonesia . Though newfangled to science , the colourful crustacean has been very democratic in the ornamental Pisces trade in Europe , North America , and Asia for about a decade already .
Several years ago , autonomous researcher Christian Lukhaup of Hinterweidenthal , Germany , came across a photo of the gorgeous rock lobster take by a ally in New Guinea , The Washington Post report . He then depart picture them in pet stores , but the dealers did n’t know for sure where they came from — or they were n’t uncoerced to share their secret with possible contender . " It is like an investigating in a crime case,“Lukhaup tell New Scientist . " This is the only way of life to recover out more . "
With some detecting , he learned that the critter comes from the exonerated urine of Hoa Creek near the settlement Teminabuan in the southern - central part of the Kepala Burung Peninsula of West Papua , Indonesia . found on the shape of the body and the chelae ( or claws ) , as well as the colouration of a dozen specimens from the wilderness and from aquariums , Lukhaup described the crawdad as a new specie in the genusCherax .
" I think it ’s one of the most beautiful crayfish,“Lukhaup tells The Post . " It ’s very striking . " In fact its name , Cherax pulcher , comes from the Latin “ pulcher ” for beautiful . The young species wasdescribedinZooKeyslast hebdomad .
Cherax pulchercomes in at least two different color pattern : a white , blue , and reddish blue morph and a greenish - gray morph . Both have blue and clean chelae . The male specimen are between 83 to 96 millimeters ( 3.3 to 3.8 inches ) long , and the slightly shorter females cooking stove between 83 and 90 millimeters ( 3.3 to 3.5 inches ) . To the right , you’re able to see an immature male person ( top ) from Hoa Creek and a female greenish - hoary morph ( below ) from Maju Aquarium in Jakarta .
You might remember the two strikingnew metal money of vampire crabsdescribed originally this year . One has purplish claws , the other has orange nippers , and they both have an intense yellow stare that present them their vampiric appearance . Lukhaup was an writer on that composition as well . Prior to being named novel species , the two had also been popular in the marine museum trade for eld .
Images : C. Lukhaup , ZooKeys ( 2015 )
