Procambarus spiculifer

The hawthorn crab Procambarus spiculifer is also called cockchafer crab. The ivory colored spines on its dark brown claws gave it its name. This beautifully marked crayfish, which grows to 14 cm, originates from the eastern southern states of the USA,  where it lives in cool streams with black water between foliage and tree roots and sometimes also under stones.

In addition to the white spined claws, the reddish-brown stripes on the abdomen and the conspicuous markings on the head carapace of the Hawthorn Crayfish are particularly striking. Procambarus spiculifer is one of the larger growing cockchafer crabs and should be kept in aquariums with an edge length of 100 cm or more.
The males of the cockchafer crayfish are quite easy to distinguish from the females. In male Procambarus spiculifer, the front two pairs of webbed legs are remodeled into V-shaped sexual appendages (gonopods) that lie between the rear walking legs pointing forward. Females have five pairs of webbed legs, males only three.

The cockchafer crayfish is relatively peaceful and also compatible with conspecifics, if sufficient hiding places in the form of caves and furnishings are available. In an aquarium from 100 cm edge length with many tubes and caves, roots and stones for climbing and hiding, several specimens of the Hawthorn Crab feel well. The substrate should consist of fine to coarse gravel. Plants will be nibbled on, but harder aquarium plants such as Anubias or ferns tend to be left alone. A good way to add vegetation to the crayfish aquarium is with floating plants. The lid of the crayfish aquarium really needs to close very tightly, gaps should be stuffed as these crayfish also have a migratory instinct in nature and would otherwise escape.

The temperature for the hawthorn crayfish may vary between 10 and 25 °C, room temperature is usually perfectly adequate. Lowering it towards winter encourages mating. The Hawthorn Crayfish, on the other hand, is quite undemanding in terms of water hardness requirements. Please accustom your new aquarium inhabitants nevertheless carefully and slowly.

Adult Procambarus spiculifer eat mainly foliage and dead plant parts, i.e. vegetarian food. A good crayfish food for North American crayfish may of course also be given. The food should be completely consumed within 3-4 minutes. Hawthorn Crayfish juveniles need more protein in their diet, so in addition to foliage and plant food, be sure to give them high-protein frozen food, special protein food, or similar protein-rich food so they don't eat their siblings to meet their protein needs.

Socializing them with Malayan trumpet snails has proven beneficial because they utilize the scraps that Procambarus spiculifer produces while feeding. Dwarf shrimp with suitable water requirements also make a good cleanup crew in the crayfish aquarium. However, juvenile Procambarus spiculifer will occasionally prey on a shrimp, you should go for very well reproducing species from the genus Neocaridina. With small to medium sized peaceful fish with comparable water requirements the cockchafer can also be socialized well. However, bottom dwelling fish are more likely to be preyed upon. Smaller to medium sized snails are eaten, they can be deliberately kept as a live food source in the crayfish aquarium.

Although White-thorned crayfish do not need a pronounced cold period to get into a breeding mood, lowering the water temperature can still have a stimulating effect. These cockchafer crabs reach sexual maturity at about 4 cm length, they can have young 4 times a year. Female Procambarus spiculifer carry each time about 40 - 100 eggs under the abdomen. the young crayfish need 3-6 weeks until hatching, but they spend their first days of life still under the mother's abdomen. The rearing aquarium for the young Hawthorn Crayfish should have many hiding places and be equipped with a layer of autumn leaves.

Please never put aquarium crayfish outdoors! Procambarus spiculifer from America can carry the pathogens of crayfish plague, a deadly disease devastating to crayfish native to our area. Therefore, please do not keep the North American Hawthorn Crayfish in the same aquarium as crayfish from other continents.

Our food recommendation: Freshwater crayfish have a very varied diet in the wild. The Natureholic Crayfish Feed Sticks contain in a biologically balanced form only those ingredients that these crayfish in this or similar form to their natural food spectrum. This naturally supports and promotes moulting, growth and reproduction. Due to their protein content they are ideally suited for omnivorous crayfish of the genera Procambarus, Cambarus, Cambarellus, Astacus and the Cherax crayfish from Australia, which are basically omnivores that like to eat animal as well as vegetable food. The crayfish of the genus Cherax from Papua also like to eat a portion of animal food when they are young, but later they switch mainly to plant food.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.