Abstract
The largest freshwater crayfish in the world are found in Australia. Cherax tenuimanus, or marron, is one of these large freshwater crustaceans which has attracted considerable interest as a potential aquaculture species during the past few years. Experiments to assess the suitability of marron for culture in the Southeastern United States began at Auburn University in 1986. A 6-week bioassay was used to evaluate the effects of three temperature ranges (17 ± 1 °C, 24 ± 1 °C and 30 ± 1 °C) and three levels of salinity (0, 50 and 100 mg/l NaCl) on marron survival and molting. As temperature increased molting frequency increased but survival decreased. Salinity had no effect on number of molts, but it had a positive effect on molting success and survival. Temperatures of 25 °C and less and salinity levels of at least 100 mg/l were found to provide the best survival. Because of a need for cool temperatures and low levels of salinity, limited areas in the Southeastern United States will be suitable for marron culture.
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