selective breeding

Cajunspice · Post by **Cajunspice** » Wed May 18, 2005 7:41 pm

my baby CRS have finally grown up to half the size of their parents. Their colors are shown and most of them are really packed with red patterns, but some look almost clear. Should i separate those to preserve the redness?

wheezo · Post by **wheezo** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:06 pm

sure... but im pretty sure those that are clear are more likely the males.

Cajunspice · Post by **Cajunspice** » Thu May 19, 2005 9:24 pm

there are the males with alot of red without the orange ovary. I'll just separate the almost clear ones... btw how do i know when the eggs are fertilized? i never had a male in there and i was hoping the babies will do the job.

fugly · Post by **fugly** » Thu May 19, 2005 11:43 pm

wheezo wrote:sure... but im pretty sure those that are clear are more likely the males.

Can I ask what your basis is for identifying males as mostly clear? Is this true of all shrimp species?

GunmetalBlue · Post by **GunmetalBlue** » Fri May 20, 2005 12:54 pm

Hi guys, I think part of the confusion might be that Canjunspice (correct me if I'm wrong) is talking about Red Cherries as opposed to Crystal Reds (the latter, I know nothing about). The female Red Cherries (RCS and NOT CRS) are distinct in that you can see the yellow saddle, though it might be a bit difficult to note if the carapace is well-colored. Try looking at it in different lighting. Also, the carapace on the female on each side of their pleopods hang down lower.

Here's a young, still barely-colored RCS with a bright yellow saddle; also note the rounded carapace covering the pleopods.

The males are slimmer and often have less color intensity than the females, though each shrimp varies.

> "there are the males with alot of red without the orange ovary. I'll just separate the almost clear ones... btw how do i know when the eggs are fertilized? i never had a male in there and i was hoping the babies will do the job."

Cajunspice, as far as I know, after a molt, the eggs descend down to their pleopods during which time they are fertilized (not sure of the exact moment, could be during the descent?). Also note that there *could be eggs, even if unfertilized, in that case, they will be dropped within a week. if you have just babies in there, not all develop the saddle early. In fact after its molt, I just noticed the yellow saddle on one of mine, which I had originally presumed to be a male. As far as the babies fertilizing your female, not sure when they become sexually mature - I've heard anything from about 1 - 3 month, with about 3 months being correct? Can someone please confirm this one way or another?

GunmetalBlue