I just bought some Diamond shrimp.
They look a lot like bumblebee shrimp with black stripe except for its tail.
Are they a hybrid of some sort ?
HG
What are Diamond Shrimp ?
Moderator: Mustafa
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Starringme
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Hmm...
Doesn't look like anything I have seen before...
Doesn't look like a bee shrimp either if you ask me... I think it looks more like a cheery shrimp!
No facts here... Just thought I could say what I think.
Cheers!
Doesn't look like a bee shrimp either if you ask me... I think it looks more like a cheery shrimp!
No facts here... Just thought I could say what I think.
Cheers!
This is a "bee shrimp" and it belongs to the Caridina serrata species complex.
Here is some more information:
http://www.petshrimp.com/beeshrimp.html
The picture I have on my website above is of a shrimp that has more white and less yellow/red, but they are the same shrimp. Trust me on that one.
Mustafa
Here is some more information:
http://www.petshrimp.com/beeshrimp.html
The picture I have on my website above is of a shrimp that has more white and less yellow/red, but they are the same shrimp. Trust me on that one.
Mustafa
Last edited by Mustafa on Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mustafa,
Think I can give more info about this one.
This "Diamond" shrimp does belongs to the 'bee' family but not exactly a bee nor bumblebee. It is a hybrid very much like the Crystal Red, which breeds in the China/Hong Kong region mostly; costing 10 times as much as the normal bees!
I'll email you a clearer pics later, and if possible pls. help me post it.
Cheers,
Think I can give more info about this one.
This "Diamond" shrimp does belongs to the 'bee' family but not exactly a bee nor bumblebee. It is a hybrid very much like the Crystal Red, which breeds in the China/Hong Kong region mostly; costing 10 times as much as the normal bees!
I'll email you a clearer pics later, and if possible pls. help me post it.
Cheers,
Hi Winwin,
That's not really correct info. The pictures you sent me as "diamond" shrimp are "just" bee shrimp. The picture you sent me as "bee shrimp" (see below) is what is commonly referred to as "bumblebee shrimp." The shrimp below is a color variety/mutation or even a hybrid. The bumblebee shrimp is a totally different species from the bee shrimp. I know it is often hard for non-shrimp professionals
to distinguish both species, but you'll figure it out after a while. 
This example just shows how common names are so misleading. Any dealer out there can choose to give the same shrimp all kinds of different names. If I started selling these shrimp as "wasp shrimp" here in the US, then they would be known as "wasp shrimp" here and *you* in Hong Kong would have no idea what we are talking about.
That's why it is so important to refer to shrimp species by their scientific names if those are available. Your "diamond shrimp" are known as bee shrimp in Japan, Europe, Hong Kong and the US. If you want to call it "diamond shrimp"...that's fine...but that just contributes to more confusion.
By the way, can you tell me of any exporters that can ship different shrimp species (including the bumblebee shrimp in the picture) to the US? You guys have some very interesting shrimp varieties there that are hard to get here.
Take care,
Mustafa
That's not really correct info. The pictures you sent me as "diamond" shrimp are "just" bee shrimp. The picture you sent me as "bee shrimp" (see below) is what is commonly referred to as "bumblebee shrimp." The shrimp below is a color variety/mutation or even a hybrid. The bumblebee shrimp is a totally different species from the bee shrimp. I know it is often hard for non-shrimp professionals
to distinguish both species, but you'll figure it out after a while. This example just shows how common names are so misleading. Any dealer out there can choose to give the same shrimp all kinds of different names. If I started selling these shrimp as "wasp shrimp" here in the US, then they would be known as "wasp shrimp" here and *you* in Hong Kong would have no idea what we are talking about.
That's why it is so important to refer to shrimp species by their scientific names if those are available. Your "diamond shrimp" are known as bee shrimp in Japan, Europe, Hong Kong and the US. If you want to call it "diamond shrimp"...that's fine...but that just contributes to more confusion.
By the way, can you tell me of any exporters that can ship different shrimp species (including the bumblebee shrimp in the picture) to the US? You guys have some very interesting shrimp varieties there that are hard to get here.
Take care,
Mustafa
Last edited by Mustafa on Tue Sep 07, 2004 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
That's interesting but confusing as well. As quoted in the "Shrimp Varieties" section:
"With the bee shrimp the head is white, whereas the bumblebee shrimp has a black head."
By that definition, most of the bees from the picture above have 'white' head instead of 'black', so should they be 'bees' instead of 'bumblebee'?
As for the 'diamond' we refer to, I agree that it is originally from the bee family as can clearly see from their heads; but an improved version I assume. Please bare with me as in the following paragrph I will try to explain why I feel it is a new hybrid. And the only supporting I have come from my own speculation and what I heard so far in Hong Kong:
While shrimp Suppliers carefully select those bees with good strong solid color (ie. good gene), they'll cross-breed them with the Tiger shrimp (just what I heard; no scientific proof). It may sound wild but if you look at those 'diamond' carefully, u can see some trace of the Tiger (such as stripes in the body and the orange tail). Having said that, these changes of course do not occur overnight but after few generations of 'careful-selective' breeding. Then finally, 'Diamond' is born...
Also please note that good 'diamond' not only have solid 'black&white' color in wide-stripes but also two white dots on its head and four white dots on its orange tails.
Hope this don't make matters more confuse...
"With the bee shrimp the head is white, whereas the bumblebee shrimp has a black head."
By that definition, most of the bees from the picture above have 'white' head instead of 'black', so should they be 'bees' instead of 'bumblebee'?
As for the 'diamond' we refer to, I agree that it is originally from the bee family as can clearly see from their heads; but an improved version I assume.
Please bare with me as in the following paragrph I will try to explain why I feel it is a new hybrid. And the only supporting I have come from my own speculation and what I heard so far in Hong Kong:While shrimp Suppliers carefully select those bees with good strong solid color (ie. good gene), they'll cross-breed them with the Tiger shrimp (just what I heard; no scientific proof). It may sound wild but if you look at those 'diamond' carefully, u can see some trace of the Tiger (such as stripes in the body and the orange tail). Having said that, these changes of course do not occur overnight but after few generations of 'careful-selective' breeding. Then finally, 'Diamond' is born...
Also please note that good 'diamond' not only have solid 'black&white' color in wide-stripes but also two white dots on its head and four white dots on its orange tails.
Hope this don't make matters more confuse...
Hi Winwin,
The white head that I mentioned as a distinguishing feature is not a fool-proof method. It works, but it's not 100%. The shrimp in the picture above do have white heads, but the rest of their coloration and their bodies are showing sure signs of bumblebee shrimp. For all I know they might be hybrids of some sort...who knows. Unfortunately, breeders in Hong Kong and Singapore like hybridizing all kinds of different shrimp so nobody knows anymore what the wild shrimp looked like.
As for your "diamond shrimp"...they are nothing special really. They are just plain old bee shrimp. Look at the following link with German Bee shrimp pictures...the bee shrimp can also have red tails and they all have the white dots on their tail...that's nothing special. Plus..bee shrimp can have varying degrees of black, white and red on their bodies naturally or through selective breeding.
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?acti ... &artNo=028
The whole story about the Tiger shrimp and the bee shrimp hybridizing is interesting. Germany and Japan are full of normal bee shrimp that nobody would ever call "diamond shrimp."
By the way...did you ever try catching shrimp from one of Hong Kong's rivers?
Mustafa
The white head that I mentioned as a distinguishing feature is not a fool-proof method. It works, but it's not 100%. The shrimp in the picture above do have white heads, but the rest of their coloration and their bodies are showing sure signs of bumblebee shrimp. For all I know they might be hybrids of some sort...who knows. Unfortunately, breeders in Hong Kong and Singapore like hybridizing all kinds of different shrimp so nobody knows anymore what the wild shrimp looked like.
As for your "diamond shrimp"...they are nothing special really. They are just plain old bee shrimp. Look at the following link with German Bee shrimp pictures...the bee shrimp can also have red tails and they all have the white dots on their tail...that's nothing special. Plus..bee shrimp can have varying degrees of black, white and red on their bodies naturally or through selective breeding.
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?acti ... &artNo=028
The whole story about the Tiger shrimp and the bee shrimp hybridizing is interesting. Germany and Japan are full of normal bee shrimp that nobody would ever call "diamond shrimp."
By the way...did you ever try catching shrimp from one of Hong Kong's rivers?
Mustafa
Last edited by Mustafa on Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
Dear Mustafa,
This is a very interesting discussion we have here. Hope u can come to HK and I'll show u around! As for catching wild shrimp, I did it once and found Tiger, Pearl, and Bee shrimp. However, the quality is far from perfect. Don't know exactly how to describe but they are just not "elegant" enough .
Having said that, I try not to catch from the wild anymore since natural habitat for shrimp to live in HK becomes less & less nowaday, and I will try my best not to intervene with nature (ie. don't want to make nature off balance).
This is a very interesting discussion we have here. Hope u can come to HK and I'll show u around! As for catching wild shrimp, I did it once and found Tiger, Pearl, and Bee shrimp. However, the quality is far from perfect. Don't know exactly how to describe but they are just not "elegant" enough
. Having said that, I try not to catch from the wild anymore since natural habitat for shrimp to live in HK becomes less & less nowaday, and I will try my best not to intervene with nature (ie. don't want to make nature off balance).