Macrobrachium ??

[Nocturna]

Hello first post and my first question =)

i had this shrimp awhile ago and i would like to have it again..

the seller called it Macobrachium Colombia but i cant find any shrimp by that name so anyone know ?



the picture is from the first day i got him/her it later shifted in red and blue color

[BM]

That looks exactly like my prawn when it was younger. Mine also changed color too, red, orange, eventually almost all blue (i posted a few pics in the user galleries). Try looking up some pics under macrobrachium rosenbergii online.

[badflash]

This looks like M. amazonicum. to me.

[zlguo]

Hi Nocturna,

This species maybe Macrobrachium inflatum Liang & Yan, 1985. The diagnosis characters are: their very expensive palm of the male second pereiopods, the upturned rostrum and rostrum formula. It has a widely distributed species in southern China. It is found in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, it is usually found together with M. nipponense.

[badflash]

With a made-up name like Macobrachium Colombia it would seem to be a new world species. The one I provide a picture for is 100% for sure M. amazonicum. The body shape, markings and claws are all the same. That species is grown for food and has recently become available in the pet trade in the US.

[Mustafa]

I agree with badflash that it's probably not a chinese species, as these animals got imported from south america. In most cases I would say that the "scientific" names that exporters provide are nonsense, but in this case it seems to be correct. M. amazonicum looks similar to M. rosenbergii, especially its rostrum. However, it does not reach a huge size and its claws are much smaller. From what I can read in scientific literature combined with the knowledge that theyare imported from south america, the shrimp in the picture is in fact M. amazonicum.

Zhaoliang, you might want to get som literature about M. amazonicum and compare its description with the shrimp in the picture. I think you will recognize that they are the same species.

By the way, M. amazonicum can be bred in freshwater although it does produce tons of tiny larvae that go through about 4 weeks of development before turning into benthic postlarvae. So, if any of you guys out there that own this shrimp want to give it a shot at breeding it, go right ahead. It should not be too difficult, given enough space, as you don't have to worry about salinity.

[badflash]

My problem was keeping enough to breed. Looks to me like you need to keep one to a tank until they are ready to breed. They kill each other otherwise. They also like to escape the tank. Because it is difficult to sex until they are large enough to show sexual characteristics that means keeping about 4 or 5 10 gallon tanks with soft acidic water.

I didn't find them near as interesting, or as social as M. Rosenbergii, so I'm now devoting my space to something more interesting. They also seem to be picky eaters and live guppies seemed to be the only thing they would consistently eat.

There should be lots of documentation on these in Spanish or Portuguese, but I was unable to locate it. These are grown for food in South America just as M. Rosenbergii are in the rest of the world.

If anyone does take them on, PM me as I know an importer and I'll donate a start of moina for feeding the larva.

[wklotz]

Hi Mustafa!

Zhaoliang, you might want to get som literature about M. amazonicum and compare its description with the shrimp in the picture. I think you will recognize that they are the same species.

Be shure, Zhaoliang has some literature on M. amazonicum

Maybe Nocturna can make some closeup shots form the antenna and the tail fan of the shrimp (both from above). The shape of the scaphocerite and the distal end of the telson would be diagnostic for M. amazonicum.

Cheers
Werner

[Mustafa]

Hi Mustafa!

Hi Werner!

Be shure, Zhaoliang has some literature on M. amazonicum

I know. I have one of Zhaoliang's recent papers right here on my desk ("Caridina longiacuta, a new species of freshwater atyid shrimp (Decapoda, Atyidae) from Hunan Province, China") actually. So, I know who he is, I was just saying the obvious.

For everyone else, Zhaoliang is a scientists from China, who has described quite a few species of Caridina from China. So he is a *real* "shrimp scientists." It's great to have him here as his help will be very valuable. Maybe Zhaoliang can help us untangle the mystery around the various species/varieties of "bee" or "bumblebee" or "zebra" or "tiger" shrimp that have been exported from southern China to both Europe and the US, so there is finally some clarity about what species of shrimp we are keeping in our tanks.

Also, Werner, although not professionally a "shrimp scientist", has been identifying various shrimp kept in the hobby for years back in Europe. So, he has become quite good at it over the years. Although he's from Austria, he's been actively helping the German shrimp scene with species identifications. He's also a very valuable addition to this forum.

So, enough for introductions, let's get back to shrimp.

[Nocturna]

Hi Mustafa!

Zhaoliang, you might want to get som literature about M. amazonicum and compare its description with the shrimp in the picture. I think you will recognize that they are the same species.

Be shure, Zhaoliang has some literature on M. amazonicum

Maybe Nocturna can make some closeup shots form the antenna and the tail fan of the shrimp (both from above). The shape of the scaphocerite and the distal end of the telson would be diagnostic for M. amazonicum.

Cheers
Werner

Since its gone i cant take anymore pictures tho i belive i have some more photos of it somewhere..

[Nocturna]

oh and yes funny note i called the shop where i bought it and asked if they had any M. amazonicum......

and well the reply i got was basicly "there dosent exist any spices with that name its fake ppl on the net dosent know anything they just think they know"

so just so you know folks its called M. Colombia couse M. amazonicum dosent exists!

[wklotz]

Hi nocturna!

"there dosent exist any spices with that name its fake ppl on the net dosent know anything they just think they know"

LOL!!

And from where did this funny shop owner have his knowledge?

so just so you know folks its called M. Colombia couse M. amazonicum dosent exists!

There is no M. Colombia known to the sciene!
Of course there is as species called M. amazonicum!

Look at the checklists on:

http://www.crusta10.de/templates/index. ... showid=172
and
http://www.itis.usda.gov:8080/servlet/S ... alue=96220

Lots of funny people on this world

Regards
Werner

[zlguo]

Thank Werner and Mustafa for trust me!
Yes, I working on the Chinese ”bumblebee” and ”tiger” shrimps.
Regards recently information, I can ascertain above 10 species bumblebee shrimps. From the systematic, bumblebee shrimps include two types, one is possess of longer stylocerite, which reaching beyond end of basal segment of antennular peduncle, such as Caridina serrata Stimpson, 1860; the other is s possess of shorter stylocerite, which not reaching end of basal segment of antennular peduncle, such as C. huananensis Liang, 2004. Maybe there are a few new species to science.
But the ”tiger” shrimp, from my collections, belong the C. cantonensis Yu, 1938, although this species seems to be a rather variable in morphological characters (as Werner’s observe). The review paper maybe publishes in future.

[Nocturna]

I went to the shop today and bought me 2 new =) although this time they where called M. Peru =)


ill take some photos of em tomorrow =)

[Neonshrimp]

I guess the pet shop will call the shrimp whatever they feel like. This just confuses the rest of us .