Cambarellus Shrimp

[apj]

I have just been to my LFS and purchased the above named shrimp,Well i was certain they were dwarf crayfish,but was told they were shrimps and legal,They were a stunning red and i purchased 3,thinking i had got some new legal inport,But came home to check and found them to be Cambarellus patzcuarensis a illegal dwarf orange crayfish,So with all the info from pratical fishkeeping i returned them,to find that these had legaly been allowed into the country,After being checked off with all the import papers,which i was shown,The manager was shocked to see my paperwork,And said he would invetigate,How can these illegal crayfish get through like this,No wonder so many shops sell illegal stock....

 

[Liam]

I have got some in the past, but returned them, they were called fire shrimp in the shop, I really doubt these could go wild in the UK but yes they are still illegal here, which is a pity, they are really cool little critters.

 

[Colin_T]

are they illegal to bring into the country or are they illegal to keep? Because many species are not allowed in but once they are here you can keep them. If they are easy to keep and breed then hang onto them and breed them.

 

[Liam]

From what I read and understood, it is illegal to keep them or bring them in. In theory you could get a licence but on enquiry it seemed very unlikely.

 

[Wolfenrook]

Yeah, it seems that they only really issue licenses for crayfish to public institutions such as public aquaria and universities. Private individuals have very little chance of getting one, I doubt you would even get to the site inspection stage where they come and look at where you are going to keep them.

It's a real shame as they are lovely little inverts, and probably the only species of crayfish that would tempt me. As you said Liam I doubt they could survive in the wild in the UK, coming from mexico I believe much like the Axlotl. But heh, getting them to have a better look at what they define as tropical species could take years.

Ade