Cannot resist to share some pictures of my A. desmarestii with you.
Atyaephira desmarestii is a freshwater shrimp commonly found in southern France but you can found this species around the mediterranean sea and more in the North (up to Germany). They can display various colors from yellow to blue (see the post untitled blue shrimp on this forum). This one is my favourite these times:
Hope it is not a problem to post these pictures on this forum. If it is, my apologies. Just want to make US hobbyists discover a shrimp that may seem atypical for them.
Just wondering. Are there typical freshwater shrimps (I mean algae eaters) in the US (excluding Hawaii)?
Cheers,
B.
but you can found this species around the mediterranean sea and more in the North (up to Germany)
Only in the rivers feeding the sea, not the sea itself, correct? That would indicate that this species pre-dates the end of the ice age when the Med was still fresh water, or do these shrimp have a saltwater cycle for fry like amanos?
badflash wrote:
Only in the rivers feeding the sea, not the sea itself, correct?
Correct. They inhabit slightly brackish waters, too.
That would indicate that this species pre-dates the end of the ice age when the Med was still fresh water,
The Mediterranean was never freshwater. It's the remnant of the ancient Tethys sea. It even dried out several times about 5-6 million years ago and was a deep salt basin. You probably confused it up with the black sea, which seems to have been a freshwater lake during the last glaciation...at least in the surface layers.
or do these shrimp have a saltwater cycle for fry like amanos?
Nope...no saltwater cycle. The species was orginally only a mediterranean species. It's spread into central europe is very recent and probably due to canals connecting the various European rivers for boat traffic.
? They seem to have the same color changing capabilities.