Ninja Shrimp page

[Oleg]

Mustafa, on the Ninja Shrimp page you have some pictures at the bottom. Are they all Ninja Shrimps? The last one (left-bottom corner) looks like the Red Cherry to me. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks a lot!

Oleg

[Mustafa]

They are *all* Caridina serratirostris (ninja shrimp). A retailer in Arizona used to erroneously offer these guys as crystal reds...which they are clearly not.

Mustafa

[Oleg]

Thank you, Mustafa. The reason I asked is that my shrimps look exactly as the one at the left-bottom corner on your Ninja Shrimp page. They are red and they have an orange-red strip along their back. I bought them as Red Cherries from the guys I emailed you about. This means I have Ninja shrimps not Red Cherry shrimps. Hm...

[Mustafa]

Hi Oleg,

Actually, I would say that you most likely do have Red Cherry Shrimp. Red Cherries can also have that white line down the back with the red color on the body. Sometimes they have the stripe on the back and sometimes they don't. Shrimp are very variable when it comes to body color. If you could take a picture of your shrimp I could tell you for sure.

Take care,
Mustafa

[Oleg]

Here are some pictures of my shrimps. The pics are not good, I will make better pics later. And this is my 33G tank set up for shrimps, snails and otos.

[Mustafa]

Hi Oleg,

I can see what you mean. Your shrimp has a very wide stripe on its back, which looks like the stripe on one of the shrimp on my "ninja shrimp" page. Let me tell you, though, that this kind of stripe is very common among shrimp species. Red Cherries get it, too. I could show you pictures of Red Cherries that look exactly like yours. The same shrimp with the stripe could lose the stripe within hours....it's very variable.

Some pictures with more light would still be helpful, though.

Mustafa

[winwin]

Hello guys,

Long time no see, just got back from Canada. Very happy to see so many many new posts! (need some times to finish reading them!)

Anyway, talking about "stripe" at the back, the only species I encountered so far that doesn't have the "stripe" is the "bees" family...

Any idea what this stripe is for? is it only happen in female shrimp? is this fat of some sort?

[samurai]

Hi Oleg,

I can see what you mean. Your shrimp has a very wide stripe on its back, which looks like the stripe on one of the shrimp on my "ninja shrimp" page. Let me tell you, though, that this kind of stripe is very common among shrimp species. Red Cherries get it, too. I could show you pictures of Red Cherries that look exactly like yours. The same shrimp with the stripe could lose the stripe within hours....it's very variable.

Some pictures with more light would still be helpful, though.

Mustafa

Some of my RCS also have the same white stripe. I was thinking to ask you about this and will try to take some pics with light for your to confirm the species of the shrimps that I have from my RCS breeding.

I also have blue shrimps that have the same white stripe and I wonder what are they? I will also take some pics of the shrimps mentioend for your review. Thanks Mustafa.

[Mustafa]

Some type of stripe on the back is very common among shrimp species. Even within the same species some individuals will have a stripe while others won't. The "Blue Shrimp" are a type of Neocaridina...most likely Neocaridina denticulata sinensis. They breed readily with Red Cherry Shrimp and produce fertile offspring which led me to believe that they are the same species. The offspring of those "blue shrimp" are not blue which brings up the question if the blue coloration in the shrimp offered for sale is natural or artificial.

Mustafa

[samurai]

Some type of stripe on the back is very common among shrimp species. Even within the same species some individuals will have a stripe while others won't. The "Blue Shrimp" are a type of Neocaridina...most likely Neocaridina denticulata sinensis. They breed readily with Red Cherry Shrimp and produce fertile offspring which led me to believe that they are the same species. The offspring of those "blue shrimp" are not blue which brings up the question if the blue coloration in the shrimp offered for sale is natural or artificial.

Mustafa

The blue shirmps that I have are all natural blue coloration. They only eat algae and bloodworms. I supposed my selective breeding on them had turned out quite fruitful as I have many of them now. I hope I am right on this and will ask your expertise in this field to validate my blue shrimps.

[Jackie]

The offspring of those "blue shrimp" are not blue which brings up the question if the blue coloration in the shrimp offered for sale is natural or artificial.

I didn't have to even wait for the offspring - my Blues lost their colour

I have info that many shimps from Asia are artificially coloured.

[kimco]

I didn't have to even wait for the offspring - my Blues lost their colour

I have info that many shimps from Asia are artificially coloured.

Hi,

I got the same problem as you, so i guess the problem is quite well spread out!

Cheers,

KG

[kross]

Here are some pictures of my shrimps. The pics are not good, I will make better pics later. And this is my 33G tank set up for shrimps, snails and otos.

nice tank u got there! for a moment, i thought your shrimp is a malayan!

[gnome]

This is how I can tell between Malayan shrimp and N. denticulata sinensis shrimp... If you look at the photos (of what I believe to be Malayan shrimp) in the link and specifically, the upper right corner and lower left corner ones, you can see how the tail has distinct white "tips." They're more or less semi-circular. I've noticed, at least with my cherry reds, that this characteristic is absent, even if they do have a light "stripe" down the back.
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?acti ... &artNo=029

I do have some Malayans that have taken on the exact same color as my cherry shrimp, but I can always tell them apart by looking at the tail tips.

-Naomi