[AxolotlFarmer]

Hi. I have noticed in my group of cherry shrimp a great variety of colours and patterns. I aquired them locally in November as juviniles and they are breeding like crazy. As they grew i noticed a great variety in colour amongst the females. Either i have a bunch of crazy crossbred shrimp or there is a large varience among them. I was wondering what sort of colouration to the cherries people have experienced, descriptions or pictures.

My favourite one of mine is solid intense read with a pink stripe down her back.She also has candy cane legs of red and white pigement. I also have one with red and white pigementation, a pink back stipe and candycane pattern of red and white on her sides(i havent gotten a good shot of her yet. I have some with stripes on their back and some with none. I have some pure red and others with white pigmentation. Some are a little darker and others have a pinkish hue... Some have a lot of pigmentation others have hardly any...Some have yellow eggs, brown eggs, lemon colour eggs.

 

[fresh_lynny]

i have a plethora of different cherries as well. I think there have been some cross breeding orgies going on too...I have some Amerries or Chamanos in the mix lol

 

[Cydric]

The one you described having the pinkish line going down it's back could just be a mature female RCS. I have a couple mature ones and they're extremely red with a pinkish-whiteish line going down the center of their backs.

Always the possibility of crossbreeding too. When you bought them, did you notice any other shrimp besides the RCS in the tank at the lfs? Or the lfs could've received them already in this state. Who knows, keep us updated if you find anything else out.

 

[AxolotlFarmer]

They were from a breeder who also has wild-types sold as "blue shrimps". He always said besure to keep them seperate, so i asume he does not house them together or he used some in his cherry lines like people soemtimes use black diamons in crystal shrimps, and the wild types and "blue shrimps" are reject crosses. its a theory that can be possible.

yes the pink ones are mature females and the lighter and pinker shrimp with less pigmentation have lemon yellow eggs. I have a horrible picture of it that does not bring out the true colours.

as one can see, she does not have much colouration, but on her side there are alternating red/white stripe patter. she also has a pink dorsal stripe.

Ihave another shrimp with more red pigmentation that has tons of white pigmentation, even on the edges of the tail, it is most pronounced by the head area of the back stripe.

horrible pictureof my bright red girl with a pink stripe.

 

[LGHT]

Those are nice shrimp. Don't know anything about Cherry's, but they look cool. I like this picture!

 

[AxolotlFarmer]

Hey! thanks.
that is a picture of my cherries when i first got them. That red one with the saddle is the super redone with the pink dorsal stripe.

 

[RESGuy]

Nice pictures AxolotlFarmer! Unfortunately, the "blue shrimp" are not a true bred shrimp. More info on the Shrimp Varieties page on PetShrimp.com. Here is what it says about the "blue shrimp".

This Neocaridina sp. is commonly imported and sold as "blue shrimp" or "blue neocaridina." As seen in the last three pictures above the imported animals are usually a nice blue color. However, the blue color is not passed on to their offspring. Hence, the blue color of the imported animals must be artificial. Either the shrimp are fed some type of food color that permanently colors the tissue of the shrimp or the shrimp have a food item in their habitats that gives them the blue coloration. Whatever the color is, it's definitely not natural and not hereditary. All the "blue shrimp" offered for sale are either this species or one of many closely related Neocaridina sp. that have been colored blue in the above described manner. Either way, in addition to the fact that these imported animals are usually in a terrible shape and die within a few days or weeks, none of them will produce blue offspring if you are lucky enough to keep them alive and get them to breed. Currently, there is no real blue shrimp in the hobby anywhere in the world.

Having said that the captive-bred offspring look very attractive even without the blue body coloration of the imported animals. The different white and black patterns on this shrimp's body give it a very ornate look. In contrast to the imported blue shrimp, the captive-bred animals are very hardy and as easy to breed as the red cherry shrimp.

This shrimp will hybridize with all other Neocaridina species and should be kept separately from them.

The last bit is most likely the reason the breeder told you not to put them together. It would probably ruin your RCS colony if they hybridized:icon_mad:

 

[LGHT]

I wonder if they are just grown in meth blue treatment and then sold. I use meth blue for my fry tanks and that die changes everything blue forever!!

 

[AxolotlFarmer]

I know they are not true breeding nor are the ones i have blue, i dont think they would hybridize seeming it is probably the same species, thus creating a cross.

I only have 2, and they appear to be similiar to Neocaridina Heteropoda, the wild version of the cherries.