What species of shrimp have YOU bred?

[Mustafa]

Do you think you can take some pictures of your shrimp?

I've got a pair of Macrobrachium assamensis that I've been dreaming about for weeks - the female I bought is carrying eggs! So it's only a matter of time I have M. assamensis babies. I'm really happy!

BTW the M. assamensis I bought is called "Red Tail Fancy", they have red claws and rusty-red tails. Beautiful beasts...

[Mustafa]

Hi Mustafa!
Do you know the name of this interesting shrimp or is it plain Lysmata sp.?

They sell many almost identical looking Lysmata in stores as "Lysmata wurdemanni" aka "Peppermint Shrimp." However, according to an article I just read, real Lysmata wurdemanni are supposed to have green eggs, but mine have creme/white/pink colored eggs. In terms of behavior and looks they are all almost identical and they will probably even interbreed.

So...that's why I call mine Lysmata sp. because it is not really Lysmata wurdemanni (according to the article).

Mustafa

[Jackie]

Do you think you can take some pictures of your shrimp?

I'll try.

[Hanzo]

Woho! Cleaning out my 120G tank last night, and would you not know it, tiny Macrobrachium cf. assamensis was running about in there! Woho, that just means that the number of shrimp species I have breed have doubled

[Jackie]

Woho! Cleaning out my 120G tank last night, and would you not know it, tiny Macrobrachium cf. assamensis was running about in there! Woho, that just means that the number of shrimp species I have breed have doubled

Congratulations shrimp grandpa!

[Aphyosemion]

I have read posts about people breeding amano shrimp using brackish water and a 10 gallon tank, with greenwater and some powdered fish flake food, with limited success. I believe I know what went wrong where they failed though and intend to try to breed some amano shrimp myself. In the case of the post, the person had trouble trying to figure out how to cycle the tank and therefore gave up cycling altogether. After 10 days, the little baby amanos died and that is where I think I will succeed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you can use a brine shrimp net to keep the shrimp from getting sucked up in a small airline hose and so, successfully continue to cycle your tank, which is VERY important in breeding anything. I would already be working on breeding amanos, except my fiance gives me a hard time about all my little "experiments," including my white worm and fruit fly cultures for my fish. Non hobbyist people just don't understand, heh heh.
-Aphyosemion

[Jackie]

I'll try.

OK Mustafa, here it is. Do you have any idea if this is really a assamensis?

http://www.jackie.webpark.pl/macrobrachium.jpg

The photo isn't mine, a friend that sells these guys took a picture in his shop and send it to me. But this is the same shrimp I have (I bought it this very shop).

The shrimp on the photo is a male, the females have almost no red in their tails and the red in their claws is less intensive.

[amanda_h]

Wow. Check out those pincers!

I was going to ask you how you shot it... your friend took a great pic!

[Mustafa]

Jackie...that Macrobrachium looks different from what I have seen as Macrobrachium cf. assamense. I only have juveniles right now in my tanks, so I can't really make a valid comparison. It looks like your shrimp might still belong to the same species group, though. Did you breed yours yet? If they are Macrobrachium cf. assamense, then they should breed pretty easily and produce young out of pretty large eggs.

Mustafa

[Jackie]

Jackie...that Macrobrachium looks different from what I have seen as Macrobrachium cf. assamense. I only have juveniles right now in my tanks, so I can't really make a valid comparison. It looks like your shrimp might still belong to the same species group, though.

Hi Mustafa
I keep thinking the same, but I have no proof. My friend (the owner of the shop where I bought these guys) is an expert mainly in reef aquariums, his adventure with shrimps began a few months ago, so he isn't very helpful in the matter.
I've been thinking of asking Chris Lukhaup or Uwe Werner - but seeing a photo is not the same as seeing a live specimen.

Did you breed yours yet?

Yes

If they are Macrobrachium cf. assamense, then they should breed pretty easily and produce young out of pretty large eggs.

The female carried about 20-25 large eggs. The babies were rather large after they hatched (8 mm). They grow fast and eat gigantic amounts of food. Right now they are 10 days old and measure about 1 cm. They already molted 3 times.

[Mustafa]

Hi Jackie,

Do your shrimp always have that white stripe on the back? I have never seen a M. cf. assamense with that stripe. Ask your friend, next time you see him, what country his shrimp are from. The M. assamense I have here are from Calcutta, India.

Oh yeah....if you feel that you have too many babies, you can always ship them over to me (of course I would pay the shipping costs).

Take care,
Mustafa
PS: Chris would not know at all (he's not a shrimp specialist...he's into crayfish) and Werner would need to see some dead specimen or their freshly molted skin (preserved in alcohol).

[Jackie]

Do your shrimp always have that white stripe on the back?

No, it showed up only on the picture (that's why photos aren't reliable IMO)

I have never seen a M. cf. assamense with that stripe. Ask your friend, next time you see him, what country his shrimp are from. The M. assamense I have here are from Calcutta, India.

I'll ask as soon as possible.

Oh yeah....if you feel that you have too many babies, you can always ship them over to me (of course I would pay the shipping costs).

No problem - I'm already starting to worry what to do with the babies. There aren't too many shrimp-freaks here in Poland

Chris would not know at all (he's not a shrimp specialist...he's into crayfish) and Werner would need to see some dead specimen or their freshly molted skin (preserved in alcohol).

The male molted just today - unfortunately he already started munching up the skin. I'll try next time.

Thanks for your help Mustafa!

[Mustafa]

Hi Jackie,

It's true that photos alone are not a good way of identifying shrimp. However, if you really have no other means of identifying then it really helps to see as many pictures as possible. So, if your friend could make more pictures of those shrimp, that would be great.

My (young) M. cf. assamense have blood red claws with black rings. The red is really bright and not rusty brownish red as on your picture or most other pictures I have seen of M. cf. assamense. Of course it could be that the blood red turns into a rusty brownish red when they grow up. I will have to see.

If your shrimp really are a different species I would definitely be interested. Again...I would have to see more pictures to have better idea.

Take care,
Mustafa

[Jackie]

My (young) M. cf. assamense have blood red claws with black rings. The red is really bright and not rusty brownish red as on your picture or most other pictures I have seen of M. cf. assamense. Of course it could be that the blood red turns into a rusty brownish red when they grow up. I will have to see.

Hi Mustafa!

My assamensis babies (or teenagers maybe? ) are about 3 cm long. Ang guess what - their claws are red with black rings.
Interesting - neither the male or female have any rings... a mystery.

Oh, I asked where they came from - India. So it looks as I have M. assamensis after all. There is one thing: they have bright red tails - the importer sells them by the name "Red Tail Fancy" (when will they stop giving those idiotic names while not knowing what they're really selling?).
I've searched the web and didn't find any pictures of M. assamensis with red tails

A new kind of Macrobrachium assamensis?