Unidentified shrimp in my tank! ID help

[Thark]

Hi,

About 2 weeks ago I found this shrimp in my tank and I have no idea what it could be. Any help would be appreciated, as it doesn't look like any other shrimp I've come across.

The shrimp looks most like a Tiger or ghost shrimp. It has a brown/clear tint to it, and has alternating stripes of dark and light brown over it. It's clearly a dwarf shrimp, just nothing like any other shrimp I've seen. The colors are too distinct for a ghost shrimp (not to mention I don't have any) and the stripes are not the same as a tiger, they're more on the top than the sides. It's a juvenile shrimp, not quite an adult, but looks to have lived for a while. I'll see if I can't get some better pictures of him. Behavior wise he acts like the other shrimp, just hard to see on the wood or akadama since he blends in so well.

I set the tank up at the end of August 2012, and added in 11 Blue Rili and 9 CRS at the end of September 2012. The CRS first gave birth about 1/10/13, and the Blue Rili about a week afterwards. About 10 days after they gave birth I noticed this shrimp. I never saw a pregnant Rili or CRS in the tanks before then. The first time any shrimp gave birth in the tank was about a month ago, and the unidentified shrimp is much older than that. However, it's also much smaller than the fully grown adult shrimp in the tank.

Color wise it looks nothing like a rili or a crystal red. Size wise nothing that size should exist in the tank, they should all have been there either 4+ months or about 1 month - nothing in between. I can't figure out where or when this little guy came from, and hence I don't know what to do with him.

In other, separate tanks, I have red rili, OEBT, CBS, Taiwan Bees, Orange, Yellow, and Red Neos, and Crystal Blues. The only tank that anything could have crossed from is the Red Rili tank. When establishing this tank in August 2012 I moved some plants from that tank into this one. Besides that nothing from any of the other tanks should be in this one.

I'm confident this fellow wasn't added to the tank when I started it up. I can still count all 11 blue Rili. I only have 5 CRS left because a few died. I'm also fairly confident that none of the Rili or CRS gave birth before 1/10/13. This little guy looks like he would have been born around November based on the size of him and other babies I have that in other tanks.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't know whether to cull this little guy or give him special treatment. I'll try and lure him out to get some better photos as well.

[steven p]

Reminds me of my own bees kinda... Here's a girl, they had some more white when they were young.

[Thark]

Thanks Steven for the reply.

I guess it's possible it could be a CRS, I just find it really highly unlikely. In the tank next to this one I had some CBS that gave birth around the same time. They look like little CBS and they've grown up at a normal rate. If this unidentified somehow grew about 10x faster than normal shrimp it could work out. There's no red or white at all on it though.

I took a few more shots of it over the weekend. I included a few with it next to the blue rili and CRS for comparison. Also, this might be hard to see from the photos, but the eyes are a solid black, so it's not like a blonde OEBT.

[Soothing Shrimp]

There used to be a theory that neos and caridina will absolutely not, under no circumstance, breed with each other. Now that theory is becoming questioned by several whom have stepped forward with "mystery shrimp" from mixed tanks. You are not the only one whom has this question.

[wicca27]

what color are its eyes in some pics they look light color orange or maybe a silverish color? and it looks like either a wild neo or tibee to me but then again i dont keep either type

[Thark]

Originally Posted by wicca27

what color are its eyes in some pics they look light color orange or maybe a silverish color? and it looks like either a wild neo or tibee to me but then again i dont keep either type

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the eyes are a solid black.

I'd never even heard of a CRSxNeo cross before. It is possible that's what this guy is. I know that I had a berried CRS give birth in early January, but I've never seen any baby CRS in the tank. It would have grown faster than any shrimp I've seen before - so maybe the possibility exists that one was pregnant and gave birth that I didn't notice. Thanks, Liam and Soothing Shrimp!

I must admit, Alexopolus, that your pictures sure do look similar to mine. The stripes look a little fuller on your tibees though. There's never been a tiger near that tank on my end. I was sold the CRS as PRL, but it's also a possibility that they could have been crossed with a tiger.

Appreciate the help guys, very informative.

[alexopolus]

Originally Posted by Thark

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the eyes are a solid black.

I'd never even heard of a CRSxNeo cross before. It is possible that's what this guy is. I know that I had a berried CRS give birth in early January, but I've never seen any baby CRS in the tank. It would have grown faster than any shrimp I've seen before - so maybe the possibility exists that one was pregnant and gave birth that I didn't notice. Thanks, Liam and Soothing Shrimp!

I must admit, Alexopolus, that your pictures sure do look similar to mine. The stripes look a little fuller on your tibees though. There's never been a tiger near that tank on my end. I was sold the CRS as PRL, but it's also a possibility that they could have been crossed with a tiger.

Appreciate the help guys, very informative.

I have seem that the older they get, the lines turn more pronounced and the white color too. By the way, I don't think yours is sterile, I was suspecting that mine were, until one day every single one got berried (survival rate are not that great).

[Soothing Shrimp]

Liam had some crosses, so he may know better.

[mordalphus]

Looks like CRS x neo cross. They usually don't happen, but it's possible. I have some as well. Unfortunately(at least mine )had a very low survival rate (only 2 out of an entire clutch), and they are sterile (get berried but dont make babies).

[Bananariot]

I was gonna say it could be a tibee as it kinda has the similar striping....but it doesn't seem like you could have tiger genes in there lol.....

Neo x CRS crosses do also happen in like the rarest of cases which would be interesting....and the stripes do seem consistent.

[alexopolus]

Originally Posted by Bananariot

I was gonna say it could be a tibee as it kinda has the similar striping....but it doesn't seem like you could have tiger genes in there lol.....

Neo x CRS crosses do also happen in like the rarest of cases which would be interesting....and the stripes do seem consistent.

I agree, lookslike a tibee. I have dozens of those guys, (tigerXCBS). Will post pics later. Something that I'm notice today is that the second generation are coming out blondes?


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[Bananariot]

Originally Posted by alexopolus

I agree, lookslike a tibee. I have dozens of those guys, (tigerXCBS). Will post pics later. Something that I'm notice today is that the second generation are coming out blondes?


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It looks like it, maybe a baby made it over from a plant? But also they do look very similar to liam's neoxcaridinal crosses

[alexopolus]

Originally Posted by Bananariot

It looks like it, maybe a baby made it over from a plant? But also they do look very similar to liam's neoxcaridinal crosses

What about a CRS that came from a tank that had tigers too? My tibee siblings are a perfect CBS/CRS, that I happen to give to a friend and now he has the famous mystery shrimp too.

[alexopolus]

Here is my tibees, gosh can't find them when I want a pic


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[Thark]

Here's a few more pictures I have of the supposed CRSxRili hybrid.

Since he's sterile I think I'll just leave him in the tank to live out his life.

Thanks again for the help in identifying this.