C. quadricarinatus males were grown in artificial ponds at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, under conditions described in Shechter et al. [17]. Inter-molt crayfish were held in individual cages and endocrinologically induced to enter pre-molt through removal of the X organ-sinus gland (XO-SG) complex or repeated ecdysone injection. Progression of the molt cycle was monitored daily by measuring the gastrolithmoltmineralization index (MMI), as described
by Shechter et al. [35]. For all dissection procedures, crayfish were placed on ice for 10–15 min, until anesthetized.