Grading System for Cherries?

[Mannie Bothans]

I just read a post on the ShrimpNow forum that mentioned defined classes of cherry. Is this a commonly accepted nomenclature?

Originally Posted by soonsing

Cherry Grade
Mostly transparent with spots of light red. Legs are colorless. Males are almost totally colorless.


Sakura Grade
Mostly red except the lower body and legs, which are very spotted or striped. Males can range from colorless to cherry grade.


High Grade Sakura / Low Grade Fire Red
Almost entirely red, with only small cracks and holes in the carapace, lower body and legs. Intensity of the red may be poorer, giving a translucent or orange tint to the shell. Males can range from cherry to almost the same as the females.


Fire Red Grade
Entirely red, with no obvious cracks in the carapace and body. Legs should be entirely red as well. However, saddles and eggs are still visible through the shell under normal lighting conditions. Males can be Sakura to almost the same as females.



Came across some strange discussions during my search that there were 2 kinds of Fire Reds; Sakura Fire Reds and Taiwan Fire Reds.
The claim was that Sakura FR were darker red, had a pale stripe running down the back and the offsprings had very poor percentage of coming out Fire Red.
Taiwan FR on the other hand, were more bright red, is completely homogenous in color (no stripe) and only about 10% of the offsprings needed to be culled.


Painted Fire Red Grade
Entirely red, with no obvious cracks in the carapace and body. Legs should be entirely red as well. Very solid and opaque shells, saddles and eggs only visible through the shell under back-lit conditions. Males can be Sakura to almost the same as females.




It is said that Painted FR are not really a separate stable line, but rather, just a cherry picking (pardon the pun) of the best Fire Reds from the colony. However, I do notice a difference in the quality of the offsprings.

[VeeSe]

Don't know, but thanks for the read. I didn't know anything about the different grades. I just assumed all those "Fire Red" posts I see on thread titles just meant "really really red"

[diwu13]

PFR pretty much just means mini-lobsters

[jasonpatterson]

Originally Posted by Mannie Bothans

I just read a post on the ShrimpNow forum that mentioned defined classes of cherry. Is this a commonly accepted nomenclature?

Yep, that's pretty much how it goes. Most people don't bother with all of those grades though, you see red cherry shrimp, which range in color from what they call cherry shrimp to the high grade sakura (which means cherry in Japanese anyway...) and painted fire reds, which range in color from what they call fire reds to painted fire reds.

I'm sure that there are people with very stable, narrowly colored colonies of cherry shrimp that better fit those individual grades, but most of the shrimp colonies I've seen have far more variation and would more fairly be grouped into broader categories, at least for sale purposes.

[wiredconcepts]

What would you guys grade these cherries?

[Kannachan13]

Aurgh! Now I'm even more upset over my tank dying, most of my shrimp were at least "High grade sakura/ low grade fire red" by that chart or better. I honestly don't know how the grading system works, I mostly just assume sakura/ fire reds are better than plain ol' cherries and leave it at that.

[diwu13]

Originally Posted by wiredconcepts

What would you guys grade these cherries?

High grade sakura or fire red. It's definitely not the mini-lobster but still a great looking shrimp. The males look like lower grades though.

[wiredconcepts]

Originally Posted by diwu13

High grade sakura or fire red. It's definitely not the mini-lobster but still a great looking shrimp. The males look like lower grades though.

You may be seeing the babies the males are vary from striped to solid red you can see a solid red male on the rock in the background. Thanks for the info I had no idea the guy I got these shrimp from carried that quality of shrimp. I have tons of babies and about to have to give some up haha.

[diwu13]

Ah yea you're right. That shrimp in the back is shaped like a male. I thought those were males in the foreground haha.

[junglefowl]

Thanks for this info!! I learn something new today!!!

[GMYukonon24s]

This me out I was looking for a cherry grade list. Thanks