Dwarf Mexican crawfish comes from Lake Pátzcuaro, a volcanic crater lake in Michoacán which is located in the southwest of the major city of Morelia, Mexico. Wild individuals of this crayfish are mostly tan, brown, and rust color.

However, Dwarf Mexican crawfish are also available in bright colored morphs that are dramatically different from their normal, relatively drab, wild type coloration. The orange color morph of the dwarf species originated in the Netherlands (bred by Juan Carlos Merino in the 1990s).

This color morph also called “CPO – Cambarellus patzcuarensis var orange” is a very attractive and popular strain among hobby keepers. Actually, it completely took over the pet niche for this species. Once again, this mutation comes from the crayfish being bred in captivity and not in the wild.

The lifespan of these tiny bright creatures is only about 2 years but have been known to live even a little bit longer.