Went in on a group buy here in Arizona and on the order list were Bumblebee Shrimp so I crossed my fingers and ordered some... As you all know what you actually get sometimes is not what you are expecting from distributors....
Well it looks as though this time I might have got lucky and from all indications have actual Bumblebee Shrimp... Very cool little shrimp indeed.
Now I have done some research and all literature points to the fact that these are not Bee Shrimp, but actual Bumblebee Shrimp and I am guessing Mustafa can tell me for sure with a glance. I guess one of the major differences I have been able to read about is the lack of orange coloration in the legs and on the tail of Bumblebee Shrimp as opposed to Bee and there are other more subtle differences as well.... But wanting to be sure (and not 100%) I ask you good folks here to help further my education.
Yes, these are bumblebees. One of the "white-head" varieties of bumblebees. Once you get used to them after a few weeks or months you'll be able to distinguish them from bee shrimp very easily. Bee shrimp, especially the ones captive bred for color over many generations, often don't have the orange tail anymore. It's mostly color, patterns and body shape that make them different. I've talked about some of these differences in the past but the best way to distinguish them is really to just observe both species over time and note the subtle and not so subtle differences.
Keep the updates coming on these guys. Please let us know the survival rate, too.
Hi Bill, good to hear you got what you paid for I have a handful of these little guys also. Mine arrived as juveniles and I now have my first berried female. As adults they are still smaller than the other types of dwarf shrimp, I think almost 2 cm at full growth. I am keeping mine in soft acidic water with aquasoil as substrate. They are one of my favorite types of shrimp because they seem to interact more socially from what I have observed. They tend to explore and feed but come together in groups more often than not. Let me know what you observe with your shrimp, I would like to see if there are any differences.
I have 2 berried in the tank (of 25), one was berried when we put them in last night and another was berried this morning when I got up and looked in the tank. I have mine in water with a PH of 6.6 and temp around 74F. I will indeed observe them and get back with you all with my findings....
Hey Bill I saw from your pictures you have a few that aren't quite black also. I looked at mine tonight and now that they have more color to them they look red. Have some of yours got some red?
I have seen only the dark headed bumblebees.
