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Need help identifying a shrimp, bought as neocaridina sp.

1K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Zoidburg 
#1 ·
Hello! I have nine shrimp that I purchased from my LFS that were labeled "Blue Caesar neocaridina sp." I picked up the last dregs of the tank so no doubt I have somewhat inferior stock - rather than a deep colour they have blue speckles on a transparent body - but to me they are an interesting variant on wild-type caridina colouration. (Blue Caesar is not a Googleable name either so likely a "short run" designer strain that doesn't breed true.)

I have noticed a few things that make me doubt their species, however, and I'm hoping that someone here can help.

The first is the fact that I have observed them occasionally hanging out in the current, arms out, filter-feeding with their forelimbs much like a bamboo or vampire shrimp. I have never heard of neocaridina doing this in any of my research.

The second is that my one berried female seems to be carrying her eggs internally, something that I'm not aware of any shrimp doing at all. This could just be a bad observation on my part, but take a look at the first photo below and tell me what you think. Maybe she is just full of poop! ? Perhaps it is a patch of true blue colour showing up as she matures. I have a few other saddled females so I am hoping that further breeding will help me resolve this issue.

Anyhow, I'm curious to hear what others have to say!
 

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#3 ·
I received a shrimp in a shipment of amanos that was some kind of dark blue almost black neo. I threw him on into the tank to live with the fire red culls that were housed there thinking maybe I'd end up with a few nice crosses. I ended up with ALOT of lil shrimp that look alot like your pics. I was told that sometimes when they cross they will go back to wild type instead of pretty colors.
 
#4 ·
I think its just a wild type neo, when u mix various coloration of neos in one tank u'll get a lot of these, most lfs are getting those shrimp from breeders as mishlings for free or very cheap, they make up own names and sell them up, there is no such a thing as ceasar blue...

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#5 ·
I kind of figured that they might just be crossbred leftovers, it's strange though as the LFS I got them from is known across North America for quality specimens, so I feel like it is out of character for them to be misleading. I don't really care, I like the wild-type look, but it is odd. The fan-feeding also puzzles me.

Here's a bigger picture of my mama - looks like the eyeballs have developed, so it shouldn't be long until I have some shrimplets!
 

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#7 ·
Been awhile since I updated this, but we just had a real baby, so I haven't had time for my shrimp babies!

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like any shrimplets survived hatching. This actually reinforces my belief that this is a fan-feeding species, as all of those that I am aware of require brackish or saline water to allow the shrimplets to develop. So, the bad news is that my shrimp will probably never successfully breed, but the good news is that they are an uncommon or rare species that may or may not be formally identified!

I have also upgraded my filter to a more powerful one, and observed plenty of clear fan-feeding behavior as a result. If I learn more I will update this thread, but I fear that this species may just remain an oddity.
 
#8 ·
Can you provide a picture of them eating?

Any way to provide a picture for size comparison?


Do you know if the babies were born as miniature adults or as larvae/zoes?


If you never saw any babies, probably born as larvae/zoes, which can be difficult to see unless it's at night and you hold a flashlight up to the tank.
 
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