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A female Indian Whitebanded Shrimp. Males are mostly clear without any patterning on their backs.

Common Name:	Indian Whitebanded Shrimp
Scientific Name:	Caridina sp.
Size:	2.5-3cm
Temperature:	best kept at 72°F-80°F
Food:	Algae, fish food (flake, pellets etc)
Water Parameters:	Needs soft to medium hard, alkaline water over the long run. Should not be kept in acidic water at all.
Origin:	India (probably around Calcutta), might be more widely spread in south Asia.
Larval Development Type:	Completely Suppressed: Larvae assume a benthic lifestyle after hatching, i.e. they are miniature versions of the adults. There is no planktonic larval stage. The hatchlings of this shrimp are EXTREMELY small and grow slowly.

The Indian Whitebanded Shrimp is a an extremely rare shrimp and efforts should be made to establish it in the hobby. As with many other shrimp I am not aware of anyone else keeping and breeding this shrimp. Under the right conditions this shrimp is very prolific and constantly carries eggs. The young do not have the beautiful white bands on their backs like the adult females. They do not fully develop those bands until they are sexually mature. The bands on the male are very small and hardly noticeable. The males are also more gracile than the females.

This shrimp is sometimes also mixed into shipments of "Rainbow Shrimp", which again shows that Rainbow Shrimp are several species mixed together instead of one. The Indian Whitebanded Shrimp is also capable of color changes and can range from reddish to almost black. However, the coloration in the picture is the most common and most persistent one in my tanks.