Self-Cloning Crawfish Spreading Across Europe
My birthday is coming up, and I've been craving some boiled seafood. Crawfish is one of those things that I could really eat forever if I didn't get tired of peeling them. But maybe, I could eat just a few more knowing there would keep coming.
But what if we could clone crawfish and have an endless supply?
Well, I'm not sure if they are edible, but The New York Times posted an article yesterday highlighting the history and study of what is known as the marbled crayfish. What makes this mudbug interesting is that it reproduces asexually; it can clone itself! It's a mutant variety of a shellfish that may have originated in Florida or Georgia, a species called slough cray...you know I'm just gonna call it like it is: crawfish. However, none of these marbled crawfish can be found in the US, so they are likely from elsewhere in Europe.
The marbled crawfish has been reproducing for 20 years and has now taken over some European countries. You can find them in pet stores and all over, known as "marmorkrebs". The crawfish are surely well-known in and around Germany, but this is my first time hearing of them. The article is full of info about how it works and what Dr. Frank Lyko has discovered while studying the famous cloning crawfish.