male female bumble bee?

[wheezo]

How can you tell the difference between male/ female bumble bee shrimps?

[GunmetalBlue]

Hi Wheezo, I expect it's difficult to tell even for the experienced and any differences may not become apparent (if they are apparent) until fully mature. Certainly not as easy to discern as the Red Cherry shrimp. I would suppose the female carapace area covering their pleopod would hang lower/rounder. And there may be other subtle differences, however, if you're trying to breed them, the best thing to do would be to have them in enough numbers that your odds of getting a mating pair would be greater.

-GB

[cz]

Do shrimp actually pair, in the traditional aquatic sense? I've observed males swarm pregnant females, and assumed their survival instinct doesnt care who's fertile. Only curious.

[GunmetalBlue]

CZ, As far as I know, your observations are correct concerning the small algae eaters. I should have worded my statement better, meaning having at least one viable male and one viable female in the bunch, sorry.

I've no idea if there are any shrimps species that actually "pair" in the traditional sense. It would be interesting to find out.

-GB