Palaemonetes kadiakensis VS. paludosus

[Brandon]

Can someone please help me with the differences between the two? I've seen more confusion over these two species than any other on many websites. I checked the archives on this site, and someone said that the kadiakensis is relatively rare and hard to breed.

I had hasked Mustafa about this species quite a while back. But now I'm confused again. The kadiakensis is native to southern OK and you can find them in all the pet stores and walmarts. I've been raising them for about 7 months now and they are pretty easy to breed. In fact they're so prolific that I'm going to have to get rid of very many as they are taking over all of my snail tanks!

Can someone tell me the difference?
Thanks, Brandon.

[Bradimus]

Can someone please help me with the differences between the two?

P.paludosus tends to have red bans on their claws and antenna. P.kadiakensis are more gracile.

I checked the archives on this site, and someone said that the kadiakensis is relatively rare and hard to breed.

They are rare compared to P.paludosus. Further, their habitats along the Mississippi are more threatened than P.paludosus's. They more difficult to breed than most algae-eating shrimp in that their young go through short planktonic stage.

[theshrimp_123]

Kadiakensis are the rarer variety (in the hobby) and are normally only found in petshops where they are wild caught. They also live farther north than p. Paludosus, with some inhabiting the great lakes. They have no red on them, they are smaller, and with smaller claws. They are also thinner and in my opinion, less transparent. I even have some with spots(although some paludosus do too). Paludosus are common. They have red bands on their claws, anntenae, and are bigger, sometimes reaching 2 inches, and meatier. They have red dots on their telson and uropods.

[Brandon]

P.paludosus tends to have red bans on their claws and antenna. P.kadiakensis are more gracile.

Hmm. Sounds interesting. I've never seen the P. paludosus around here before, only the kadiakensis.

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They more difficult to breed than most algae-eating shrimp in that their young go through short planktonic stage.

Yeah it would be easier if the young were born benthic. But I don't think that would be as fun! I love watching the little nauplii filter feeding, they look like little splinters of glass in floating in the water. If you guys haven't seen it before you should feed them some freshly hatched brine shrimp nauplii! It's very exciting to watch them hunt down and devour the little guys!

They have red bands on their claws, anntenae, and are bigger, sometimes reaching 2 inches, and meatier. They have red dots on their telson and uropods.

Yeah, sounds like I need to try and find some.... Might be hard around here though as I've NEVER seen them before. I may have to go to another town...

Thanks for all the input!

[Mustafa]

The kadiakensis is native to southern OK and you can find them in all the pet stores and walmarts.

--I doubt the petstores and walmart have P. kadiakensis. Although P. kadiakensis occurs locally it does not mean that the local stores got their shrimp locally. Pretty much all the "ghost shrimp" you can usually see in pet stores come from Florida and are P. paludosus. Especially walmart and chain petstores have national distributors instead of purchasing their livestock locally.

Mustafa

[Brandon]

-- Although P. kadiakensis occurs locally it does not mean that the local stores got their shrimp locally.

You're probably right. But the pet store in my town (there's only one) is a mom and pop store, in fact it's called "Maw and Paws Pets", so there's a chance that the shrimp are local. I'll have to ask next time I'm down there.

I doubt the petstores and walmart have P. kadiakensis. Pretty much all the "ghost shrimp" you can usually see in pet stores come from Florida and are P. paludosus.

Well if the differences everyone here has told me between the two species is correct, then I definitely have kadiakensis. There are no red bands on the claws or antenna, or red dots on the telson or uropod, in fact there is no coloring at all, and they do indeed have a planktonic stage that lasts about 7 to 13 days. These guys are definetely kadiakensis if the identification of paludosus is correct.

[Mustafa]

[Well if the differences everyone here has told me between the two species is correct, then I definitely have kadiakensis. There are no red bands on the claws or antenna, or red dots on the telson or uropod, in fact there is no coloring at all, and they do indeed have a planktonic stage that lasts about 7 to 13 days. These guys are definetely kadiakensis if the identification of paludosus is correct.

P. paludosus can be pretty variable, too, with some individuals showing very faint red or almost no red at all. Without a picture we'll never know for sure. It might be either species.

Mustafa