Shrimp in Australia?

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Mon May 02, 2005 7:13 pm

Greetings,

I'm a novice fishkeeper living in Australia (Ballarat, Victoria actually) who has discovered this great site and would like to try keeping some of the different shrimp varieties in my 8 gallon (soon to be planted) tank.

Would anyone know where i might find some of the more exotic shrimp types like Green, Tiger, Ninja, Cherry Red, Amano etc. in Australia (preferably Victoria) please?
Or if I can't buy them locally perhaps there are some online stores who will ship to Australia?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Post by **Mustafa** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:30 am

I have no idea about what types of species are actually imported into Australia. You won't be all that successful finding people shipping to private persons in Australia. The laws in your country concerning the pet industry are very strict since Australia is worried about possible invasive species spreading in the country.

However, Australia itself has lots of Shrimp species in (at least) the Caridina, Paratya and Macrobrachium families. Lots of these are in Queensland but there should be some species elsewhere, too. You should do some research into this locally. Also, go ask pet stores if they can get you some of the shrimp you see on this website.

Good luck!

Mustafa

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:39 pm

Many thanks for your answers!

Actually I had no idea Australia's introduced species laws were so strict but I suppose it makes sense given that our range of natural inhabitants is so different in many ways to other countries - human population included

It does seem ironic though given that most of the species you describe seem to originate from southern Asia which is practically 'right on our doorstep', particularly Indonesia which is a neighbor of ours.

I know my LFS claims to stock shrimp on occasion but I suspect they would only be Ghost Shrimp or Yabbies and I would like to try the more exotic varieties.

I'll keep looking around and see if I can find other Aussies who've tried to own some of these little critters.

Veneer · Post by **Veneer** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:23 pm

Bosk wrote: I know my LFS claims to stock shrimp on occasion but I suspect they would only be Ghost Shrimp or Yabbies and I would like to try the more exotic varieties.

What pass for "ghost shrimp" in Australian LFS are usually translucent Paratya of some sort; Macrobrachium spp. are typically dealt under the heading of "cherabin" or "river prawns". The full range of freshwater shrimp available to the Australian aquarist, however, can only be realized through personal collection (with adherence to regulation governing such collection, of course).

Atyidae live in many types of water body but prefer comparatively still waters where they congregate under banks, large submerged boulders and aquatic vegetation. Most prefer surface-waters but the genus Atya comprises more robust, coloured forms that walk on the bottom.

The Palaemonidae (prawns) differ from Atyidae in having the second pair of legs greatly elongate and ending in rather slender claws. The Parasticidae (crayfish) differ in having the first pair of legs robust and ending in strong claws.

All other shrimp-like animals (Anostraca, Syncarida, some Amphipoda and Isopoda), except Thermosbaenecea, are without a carapace. The Thermosbaenecea have a carapace joined to the head but leaving the thorax free. A single species 1-1.5mm in length is known from a single cave in WA.

Atyidae are distributed in every State but are most common in the eastern half of the continent. The Australian Atyidae are placed in genera Paratya, Atya, Caridina, Caridinites, Stygiocaris, Parisia, Pycneus and Pycnisia. Paratya australiensis is the most widespread species of small freshwater shrimp in eastern Australia. Keys to genera are given by Williams (1980) and Choy and Horwitz (1995).

From http://www.lucidcentral.com/keys/lwrrdc ... CRUS__.htm.

A video clip depicting P. australiensis may be viewed here.

edinjapan · Post by **edinjapan** » Thu May 05, 2005 1:34 am

Veneer wrote:
Bosk wrote: I know my LFS claims to stock shrimp on occasion but I suspect they would only be Ghost Shrimp or Yabbies and I would like to try the more exotic varieties.
What pass for "ghost shrimp" in Australian LFS are usually translucent Paratya of some sort; Macrobrachium spp. are typically dealt under the heading of "cherabin" or "river prawns". The full range of freshwater shrimp available to the Australian aquarist, however, can only be realized through personal collection (with adherence to regulation governing such collection, of course).

Atyidae live in many types of water body but prefer comparatively still waters where they congregate under banks, large submerged boulders and aquatic vegetation. Most prefer surface-waters but the genus Atya comprises more robust, coloured forms that walk on the bottom.

The Palaemonidae (prawns) differ from Atyidae in having the second pair of legs greatly elongate and ending in rather slender claws. The Parasticidae (crayfish) differ in having the first pair of legs robust and ending in strong claws.

All other shrimp-like animals (Anostraca, Syncarida, some Amphipoda and Isopoda), except Thermosbaenecea, are without a carapace. The Thermosbaenecea have a carapace joined to the head but leaving the thorax free. A single species 1-1.5mm in length is known from a single cave in WA.

Atyidae are distributed in every State but are most common in the eastern half of the continent. The Australian Atyidae are placed in genera Paratya, Atya, Caridina, Caridinites, Stygiocaris, Parisia, Pycneus and Pycnisia. Paratya australiensis is the most widespread species of small freshwater shrimp in eastern Australia. Keys to genera are given by Williams (1980) and Choy and Horwitz (1995).
From http://www.lucidcentral.com/keys/lwrrdc ... CRUS__.htm.

A video clip depicting P. australiensis may be viewed here.

There are quite a few Caradina sp that come from the land downunder. They only get mentioned in passing and then the writer goes on all about the rainbows or other fish that have got them so excited.

raggamuffin · Post by **raggamuffin** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:09 am

i live in melbourne, and i also would love to keep some more exotic crustations.

i keep a few australian species, though, in a 24L tank, and find them quite interesting. there are a few of the simple glass shrimp (paratya australiensis) and a long arm shrimp (macrobrachium australiense), both of which i got from upmarket aquariums in melb. the long arm is quite amazing, allowing me to feed her flake on the end of long tweezers: she grabs hold of the tweezers with her large claws and eats the flake with her small claws! so cool. she caught a white cloud at one point too.

one more australian i would love to keep some day is the small sydney crayfish (euastacus australasiensis). it has bright blood red markings and stays a relatively small size at 60mm carapace length. only ever seen pics but it immediately captured my imagination. imagine a group of such a creatures against the greens of a heavitly planted tank. and being a cray, i wouldn't imagine that they would dig either. awesome.

edinjapan · Post by **edinjapan** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:30 am

There is a species of small shrimp found in New Zealand and Australia that exhibits unique behavior. They start life as a male and become female on reaching adulthood. Unfortunately they give birth to pelagic young who need to spend some time in seawater similar to the Amano shrimp. There is also a small freshwater crab that would be ideal, 16mm TL they are totally freshwater and give birth to fully formed young who stick with mum for a month or more.

I would love to get my hands on either of these little critters.

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:47 am

I wish I could get some of the crustacean species from Australia. There are tons of Caridina species actually, but you will have to find them yourself in some of the rivers of Queensland and other tropical and subtropical areas of Australia. There should be *at least* 10-20 species of Caridina there if I am not mistaken and probably many more that have not yet been scientifically described. There should also be quite a few species of filter shrimp (Atya/Atyopsis/Atyoida etc.) and Macrobrachium species (other than australiense).

Talking about crayfish...since the topic does not belong here I have started another topic in the crayfish section of this forum. Go there and admire one of the most beautiful crayfish species I have ever seen (and it's from Australia).

I am glad we have another person from the land downunder in the forum.

Welcome!

Mustafa

Veneer · Post by **Veneer** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:59 pm

Freshwater Shrimp of Australia

edinjapan · Post by **edinjapan** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:24 pm

Veneer wrote:Freshwater Shrimp of Australia

Good source, there seem to be subspecies of the CRS and RCS in Ozzie streams, also an unknown species of Ataya. Lot's of potential for someone who is willing to get out and explore a bit.

TKD · Post by **TKD** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 1:47 pm

Hi all,

I was looking around the net, found this and thought of this thread

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/caridgal.html

TKD