Puerto Rican Shrimp

[Mustafa]

You probably should contact Mirko Abraham. He recently successful bred some Xiphocaris elongata.

Cheers
Werner

Ahh....good to know. Thanks for the info. I have no doubt that most shrimp with saltwater larvae can be bred without too much difficulty, it's just that it hasn't been tried with most shrimp. I am sure that in the future, when the shrimp hobby is much bigger, reports of such hobbyist successes will be much more commonplace.

[Mustafa]

Mustafa,

Are you planning to move to CA? WOW

Are you planning on setting up a big shrimp breeding facility?

Yes, the move has been in the planning for a few years now. And yes, once settled there I will set up a breeding operation with a few hundred or few thousand tanks, vats, ponds...etc. etc. Something like this needs some planning and a suitable site, so it will take a while to identify such a location and set things up. Let's take one step at a time and *move* to San Diego first...

[Veneer]

One of the large X. elongata:



Macrobrachium faustinum:

[Neonshrimp]

Very nice shrimp, thanks !

The X. elongata really does look like the Rednose Shrimp (Caridina gracilirostris) , only it's yellow .

[Pugio]

Are those PR shrimp present year-round? And how far downstream of the Carraizo Dam did you see Xiphocaris? I was curious how far that is from the ocean.

Also, what is the best way to bring these shrimp back to the mainland from PR?

[Veneer]

Are those PR shrimp present year-round? And how far downstream of the Carraizo Dam did you see Xiphocaris? I was curious how far that is from the ocean.

Also, what is the best way to bring these shrimp back to the mainland from PR?

They were around 1 km downstream of the dam (see this map).

As for bringing them back, I packed the shrimp in Kordon breather bags within Styrofoam boxes containing heat packs, in turn divided between my checked luggage and a USPS Express Mail package. I experienced no casualties with either method.

[Pugio]

Wow that map doesn't leave any questions about the location. Thanks for the tips. Any other good shrimp collecting hot spots in PR? I got a free place to stay in San Juan that I need to take advantage of soon...

Not to change the topic but - has anyone built/used overnight shrimp traps to collect wild shrimp? I couldn't find a discussion topic on this (apologies if I missed it). I suspect a trap has the potential to collect a lot of rare species - and an efficient use of time if you're on vacation in the tropics but want to see what shrimp are "out there."

[Veneer]

Any other good shrimp collecting hot spots in PR? I got a free place to stay in San Juan that I need to take advantage of soon...

I located some nice sites at the following coordinates:

N 18°21.984', W 065°46.224'

N 18°20.096', W 066°00.549'

Google Earth/Google Maps should assist with driving directions.

Most any natural stream with unobstructed flow to the sea should contain shrimp of some sort. Sometimes ponds adjoining a river or drought-isolated pools in a partially dried riverbed will contain some as well. High-altitude sites (especially below waterfalls) are especially productive for Atya, Micratya, and certain large Macrobrachium.

Not to change the topic but - has anyone built/used overnight shrimp traps to collect wild shrimp? I couldn't find a discussion topic on this (apologies if I missed it). I suspect a trap has the potential to collect a lot of rare species - and an efficient use of time if you're on vacation in the tropics but want to see what shrimp are "out there."

I tried to capture Macrobrachium with wire minnow traps (enlarged openings) and Promar collapsible crab traps, but had little success (nothing but a juvenile slider turtle). I think the bait I used (raw coconut, banana, and crushed snails) was not attractive enough to draw larger specimens in from deeper water, and the entrance holes were too large to prevent smaller ones from escaping. A fine-mesh commercial crayfish trap furnished with fishing bait (large catfish pellets seem like a good choice) or a dead fish might have proved more productive.

[Pugio]

Hey Veneer those coordinates are great. Breeding Xiphocaris sounds like it might be fun/a challenge. I have finally raised some P. pugio larvae to 1 month and (I think) they must be a-molt-or-two away from metamorphosis (maybe not the most glamorous shrimp, but I found them at: 38°37'40.63"N 76°40'23.22"W in large numbers).

That's interesting you said "unobstructed flow to the sea" - hinting that they have larval development in the sea. So don't look for shrimp upstream of those dams? I wonder if that's universally true for such shrimp types...

[TKD]

Out of curiosity, would you collect shrimp so close to a town?
Would you have not better luck finding more species further way from human habitation?

Thanks,

TKD

[Veneer]

That's interesting you said "unobstructed flow to the sea" - hinting that they have larval development in the sea. So don't look for shrimp upstream of those dams? I wonder if that's universally true for such shrimp types...

All of the species you'd come across in Puerto Rico require saline water for larval development.

Though a few specimens might be able to travel upstream of a dam (through flooding events or very brief stretches of overland travel, depending on the size of the obstruction), replenishment of their numbers would be highly restricted. At any rate, Puerto Rico has no natural lakes, and the lentic conditions of dam reservoirs likely would not be ideal habitat in the first place.

Out of curiosity, would you collect shrimp so close to a town?
Would you have not better luck finding more species further way from human habitation?

Thanks,

TKD

That's probably true, but the exact situation of my collection points was not as open to choice as I would have hoped. Even in semi-urban settings, some riverbanks were impassably vegetated or steep (near-vertical drops), and many of the nicer lowland streams were fenced off. Accessing the site featured in the first map was rather perilous (entailing a crouching slide several dozen meters down a dirt path on a 50 degree incline, followed by a trek through tangled vegetation and large boulders in search of suitably shallow water).

To be honest, actually getting into the water was harder than collecting itself. A detailed island map and electronic driving assistant (GPS) with a visual display both proved invaluable.

Ironically, shrimp were much less strenuously accessible in the "iguana pond" below the access ramp of the hotel I had stayed at two years ago.

However, as this image of Atya in Puerto Rico's Caribbean National Forest (El Yunque) should attest, fast-flowing high-altitude streams often have very dense assemblages of certain species. Collecting in El Yunque is prohibited without a permit, but similar montane locales (and, to a lesser extent, water bodies immediately downstream of the Forest) are notably abundant in filter-feeding Atyids.

[Fred]

Hi I'm new to the forum and have also found myself shrimp hunting in some of the creecks and rivers looking for some of the species you have listed. Any tips or cautions as far as what species to look for and what combinations of shrimps and fish to avoid? Any info would be greatly appreciated I'm asking because I believe I may have 2 Palaemon pandaliformis. One is quite large and it's in a tank with smaller fish like neons and other small tetras. It hasnt done anything yet but I want to make sure. I'll posts some pics when I get a chance.

[demonte1997]

I would certainly avoid M. carcinus and M. acanthurus in a tank with fish. Please post up images of your shrimp if you can.

[Mustafa]

Yes, pics would be great. If you are from Puerto Rico, it would be interesting to hear/read from someone about the crustacean fauna there. Despite Puerto Rico being part of the US there are very few people that seem to be involved seriously in the aquarium hobby and report about it...in the english speaking world anyway.