Red Claw Eggs?

Beansly · Post by **Beansly** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:57 am

I bought 8 (I think it was eight) baby red claws from Mustafa in July. They were about 1/2 inch big, and are now about 1 and 1/2 inches. I'm not sure if they all survived, since I've never seen eight all at once, but I'm sure at least 6 did. Some are bigger than others, but the smaller ones have redder claws, which I assume are males, although I thought they got bigger than the females. Maybe males grow slower? One is darker, bigger, and faster than the others, which I assume is an alpha male. One of the shrimp, medium sized with no color on claws, looks to maybe have eggs. Could they be sexually mature already? That seems kinda fast to me. I'd take a picture, but our digital camera is not up to such a task, and all my fish or shrimp pictures end up showing a background with fish or shrimp blurs.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:05 am

Yes, they could be sexually mature. If they are really carrying eggs, then you will know as they are unmistakable. They look like...well....eggs.

The "redder" claw theory does not work when it comes to distinguishing males and females. You really have to wait until clear sexual differences develop. Then you can go to their species description and compare them to my adults.

Beansly · Post by **Beansly** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:08 am

My son and I have leering in the tank excessively the past two days, and there is definitely a female with eggs!

I can also tell who the dominant male is, as he is easily distinguishable from the rest. As for the others, I have no idea what sex they are. It seems despite the larger tank, I might only get one alpha male. Now for the babies, I can't wait!

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:20 am

Thanks for the update!

It's always great to hear when one of the rarer species of shrimp is reproducing in someone else's tank. Please keep the updates coming.