Is this how the first red bees looked?

[infopimp]

This shrimp came along with 12 "Bees" we bought at a local pet store. It has a very interesting "X" pattern on its head and more maroonish red.... and a very strikingly blue body.

I wonder... Is this how the "first" red CRS' looked when the mutation first happened?

Any insights?

High res image: http://www.imageseek.com/sven/gallery/C ... 587?full=1

[Mustafa]

What you have there is a one type of "bumblebee" shrimp, which consists of several closely related species/subspecies. Bee shrimp are different. The first red bee shrimp looked like the wild versions of bee shrimp...just red. The wild versions of bee shrimp look just like the "Chinese Zebra Shrimp" pictures on this website, but with much more black on their bodies. The striping is the same.

[infopimp]

I'm starting to really understand more and more why hybrids are a pain... its already confusing enough as it is.

Thanks Mustafa.

[infopimp]

Here's another photo of this guy showing the head a little more clearly

Hi-res: http://www.imageseek.com/sven/gallery/a ... 621?full=1

[adimeatatime]

Your shrimp is very pretty. When I first started keeping bumblebees I thought I had some pretty blue ones mixed in with my regular colored shrimp. During my shrimp keeping journey, I have learned that blue on a bumblebee shrimp indicates it is stressed by something. Are your shrimp still showing blue on their bodies? The pictured shrimp doesn't look blue (to me at least) and it's good sign they are settling into your tank well.

[Neonshrimp]

Hi infopimp, I have heard that the original RCS look more like the lower C grade CRS and were then selectively bred to get the high grades we have today.

[Cactus Bastard]

I have learned that blue on a bumblebee shrimp indicates it is stressed by something.

Does anyone else have more info on this? I regularly have red cherries develop blue patterns.

They seem healthy, are active, breed well...
I have also had ghosts turn blue, the crayfish I had many years ago turned blue, and my tiger shrimp have developed quite bit of blue as well

[TKD]

Could be your water

[Cactus Bastard]

That's what I had previously assumed. We have very hard water here - lots of interesting minerals .

[Mustafa]

Do you have a larger picture from a different angle? It's hard to tell what kind of shrimp is on the picture. It might not be a red cherry at all.

[Cactus Bastard]

I'm quite certain they are. I bought my cherries almost two years ago, and have not added any livestock to this tank since then, except for the addition of three tiger shrimp a few months ago. (The tigers also turned rather blue)


Yes, I have blue sand in my substrate, but even shrimp born and raised in other tanks turn blue (it's just much easier to photograph them in this tank)

Here are a few more shots of some blue ones. When you click on the link, it will open a small version, you have to click on the image again to see it larger, and then it will probably still reduce it and you will have to click on it a third time

This one is quite young, you can see a larger cherry in the background that also has a little bit of blue


Here is another shot of a cherry with quite a bit of blue on it


This one is almost completely red, but you can see just a tiny bit of the blue as well


About a quarter of my cherries have at least some blue on them, and the tank is healthy. I feed them very little; they have 28W of T5 over the ten gallon so they get a lot of natural food. There are always copepods swimming around, I occasionally spot hydra, and assorted nematodes as well. The tank has a few plants, but I do not dose ferts. The substrate is nearly three inches deep, and I pressed a single Fluorish root tab into the center of it about a month ago. That is all that has ever been added to this tank.

Oh, and they're not asphyxiating either It is an open top tank, with a HOB filter which churns up the water quite well.

[Cactus Bastard]

Heh, I was searching for more info on this, and noticed I had already made a post about this phenomenon almost a year ago
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2990
It wasn't long after this that she shrimp in my ten gallon tank started turning blue as well.

My theory on the subject has not changed much, basically I feel it is minerals in the water, compounded by a relatively natural diet.

I happen to think it's quite cool though! As long as it's not actually a sign of stress

[adimeatatime]

I have learned that blue on a bumblebee shrimp indicates it is stressed by something.

Does anyone else have more info on this? I regularly have red cherries develop blue patterns.
They seem healthy, are active, breed well...
I have also had ghosts turn blue, the crayfish I had many years ago turned blue, and my tiger shrimp have developed quite bit of blue as well

I was only referring to my bumble bee shrimp with that comment. It's not uncommon to see tiger shrimp in varying shades of blue.