My big Atya gabonensis ...

Gaua · Post by **Gaua** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 2:40 am

Hi!!

I've read a lot here, but I haven't posted anything yet ...

First, I want to introduce myself, I'm from Spain, so please excuse my English ... I'm not really one of those acuarists with a wide experience, but I've tried here to make people want to know more about the other inhabitants of aquariums, specially snails.

Talking about shrimps, I have over hundreds of red cherrys, and I recently started with crystal reds ... I love this little ones ...

... but now I want to show you the biggest shrimp I have ... my Atya gabonensis ...

I bought two Atyas five months ago, luckily they were male and female ... but the male was very weak and died the day after .... But the female has done very well and she has also molted once. It really surprised me ... what she left was just like an empty medieval armor ....

So this is my little one ...

For what I have read, she is supposed to grow bigger ... wow!

She's only 8 cm long ... But it's a really peaceful shrimp, very shy ... She doesn't want to get into trouble and prefers to go to a quieter place, in order not to have her "fans" hurt ...

A few weeks ago, I was very lucky to find another Atya in a shop, and when I came closer, yes!! IT WAS a MALE!

And he was very cheap, only 5$ !!...

When I bought him, I thought he was smaller than my female, but when I put him in the tank, I saw I was wrong! He 's quite bigger than her, about 10 cm ... and he has a wonderful colour! Blueish! ....
I read these shrimp can have many different colours, from dark brown to light blue ....

Here's the "little" one:

Here you have the happy pair ...

Hope you like them!

Post by **Mustafa** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:11 am

Welcome to the forum, Gaua! Nice pair of shrimp you got there.

You can see very clearly the differences between male and female (look at the front legs and the body shape). Good luck with them!

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:09 am

Welcome Gaua,

Thanks for sharing the great pictures of your little ones

They look big to me but as you say they can and will grow bigger

Please let us know how they do in the future.

Gaua · Post by **Gaua** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:43 am

Thanks for your welcome!!

You can see very clearly the differences between male and female (look at the front legs and the body shape)

Yes, that's true! .... I have two more pics I hope you like, they could be helpful for anyone who wants to sex them ...

As you have said, the first pair of walking legs (the bigger ones) are thicker and stronger in males ...

This is the female:

And this is the male (the first I bought, not the one I have now. Both male and female were the same size): I'm sorry the photo's a bit out of focus, I'll take another one of the new male ...

And I have also noticed another difference between males and females ... as many other shrimps, the female's pleopods are much longer than the male's ... I have no pic of this, but I'll try and get!

I'm glad you like them!

Byes!

Cydric · Post by **Cydric** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:28 pm

simply beautiful shrimp you have there, especially the blue tinted male.

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:06 pm

Nice shrimp and photo's. What is the odd-looking marking on the female?

Gaua · Post by **Gaua** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:59 pm

Thanks!

Nice shrimp and photo's. What is the odd-looking marking on the female?

Yes, true .... she didn't have it when I bought her. When she molted, I noticed that that part of her exoeskeleton was not like the rest of it, it was thicker and different colour .... I wanted to get a closer look and I touched it, it seemed as if the internal and external "layers" of the skeleton were separated and inside filled with water.
She seemed ok, so I didn't mind ... Two days after, the "layers" in that part got together, and the liquid disappeared. And that odd-looking marking was left ...

I suppose it'll disappear when she molts again ...

Byes!

Asian_Vampire · Post by **Asian_Vampire** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:19 am

Cool pics!

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:48 am

Those markings are usually caused by damages to their shells. The damage could be physical (the shrimp got cut/bitten/hurt somehow) or it can be caused by a shell disease. I've seen it quite often on wild-caught shrimp, especially the larger species. It should disappear after a while (a few molts) under good conditions.

Gaua wrote:Thanks!
Nice shrimp and photo's. What is the odd-looking marking on the female?
Yes, true .... she didn't have it when I bought her. When she molted, I noticed that that part of her exoeskeleton was not like the rest of it, it was thicker and different colour .... I wanted to get a closer look and I touched it, it seemed as if the internal and external "layers" of the skeleton were separated and inside filled with water.
She seemed ok, so I didn't mind ... Two days after, the "layers" in that part got together, and the liquid disappeared. And that odd-looking marking was left ...

I suppose it'll disappear when she molts again ...

Byes!

Gaua · Post by **Gaua** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:21 pm

Thanks for your explanation, Mustafa! I didn't know that .... I supposed it was related to the process of molting, because it appeared just after that, but I didn't know anything more ...

Some more pics, a closer look at the female ... She's so beautifully ugly!

I have also noticed that they are very intelligent creatures, not like small shrimp ... they have a good memory and can recognize things and colours (like the food packet) ...
She doesn't hide now when I get closer to the tank, but she does when my mother comes ...

Here you can see the perfect gadgets they have for filtering food. 2 pairs of modified claws, and in each one, two fans, one in front of each other, like the valves of a clam ... They're such efficient tools!

Hope you like them!

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:43 pm

I have also noticed that they are very intelligent creatures, not like small shrimp ... they have a good memory and can recognize things and colours (like the food packet) ...
She doesn't hide now when I get closer to the tank, but she does when my mother comes ...

Wow, great to know! I wonder if you can teach them some new/interesting behaviors. They are beautiful by the way

RCSGuy · Post by **RCSGuy** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:50 pm

Wow they really are beautiful (in a shrimp sort of way

). Wow, they are really smart, my turtle recognizes his food as well and goes crazy when he sees it

Gaua · Post by **Gaua** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:18 am

I have more news!!

Last night the female molted again, this morning I found her empty exoeskeleton, wow ... as shocking as the first time!

I took a pic:

As I supposed, the damaged part was left .... I took a pic to get a closer look:

I looked for the female, and finally I found her hiding under the big leaves of one of my Echinodorus ozelot ...
I couldn't get a closer look, because I didn't want to disturb her ... but I think she has a perfect new exoeskeleton, with no damaged parts ... light brown and soft ....

I'll tell you better when she comes out again ....

Byes!

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:37 am

... but I think she has a perfect new exoeskeleton, with no damaged parts ... light brown and soft ....

I hope this is the case. Thanks for sharing the great pictures

!

RCSGuy · Post by **RCSGuy** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:17 pm

Very nice pictures, that's a scary exoskeleton, I didn't know that exoskeletons could have color, I thought they were always white, guess I never saw any colored ones. But good news that the damaged spot was left behind