Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Can not get better pictures now, seems I should invest on a better camera. I will keep on finding chance to get a better picture.

Where can I find the pic of Rainbow shrimp, I want to compare them.
Thanks.

There is no species called "rainbow shrimp." It's just a mix of several similar and also not so similar species. Here is one of the species you can find in that mix and even this species is variable in coloration:

http://www.petshrimp.com/indiashrimp.html

Mustafa

Hei, mine is very similar to the photo at the bottom.

Got two pictures. This is the reddish one, others look same to it but in the color of brown.

The side view:
http://www.pbase.com/cherryshrimp/image/37503533

The top view:
http://www.pbase.com/cherryshrimp/image/37503552

That reddish one does look like a "green shrimp." I am almost sure. (as sure as you can be looking at pictures).

Mustafa

Oh yeah, that totally looks like my green shrimp!

I have got to get some of these Green (and other cool colors) Shrimp.

When I looked at the green shrimps' picture posted by amanda_h, I though I got a reddish and some brownish Green Shrimp. The color variation does confuse me.

I have a question about the cherry shrimp.
How long will it be between the appearance of the "yellow saddle" and the appearance of eggs?
And how long will the eggs be hatched?

Bradimus wrote:I have got to get some of these Green (and other cool colors) Shrimp.

All in good time. I'll be offering them in the next couple months actually. Interestingly enough, my green shrimp population is composed of animals who are *all* green all the time now. They only change coloration to reddish or darker if they are sick, uncomfortable or something else bothers them. That's probably also why a larger percentage of imported green shrimp are red, orangish or other colors.

All the shrimp in my green shrimp tank were born in that tank and they are always green. Their parents were changing colors and now I am attributing that to the fact that they were wild caught and still very sensitive to being in captivity. That's why most of you who get to buy green shrimp from pet stores will have animals that change color quite a bit...because they are imported and not feeling all that well. They can live like that for a long time. But if you manage to breed them, their offspring will most likely stay green all the time, unless sick or stressed out otherwise.

So..here is a preliminary theory: If your green shrimp feel fine, healthy and are under no stress, they will always be green. If there is any type of stress that bothers them, they will start changing colors. I have observed my shrimp for a long time and this theory seems to be accurate.

This, of course, does not mean that there aren't similar shrimp species from india that *are* actually red....entirely possible.

Mustafa

Mustafa wrote: They only change coloration to reddish or darker if they are sick, uncomfortable or something else bothers them.

Including a perceived predator? Just wondering if the change in color is a symptom or an adaptive trait. If it is an adaptation, what is its advantage? I think we can agree it is probably not camouflage. Maybe mimicry?

Mustafa wrote: So..here is a preliminary theory: If your green shrimp feel fine, healthy and are under no stress, they will always be green. If there is any type of stress that bothers them, they will start changing colors. I have observed my shrimp for a long time and this theory seems to be accurate.

Seems logical. The only alternative that pops into my head is that there is something in the water in India. Seems less likely though. Further, it seems wrong to deliberately stress the shrimp to test the theory.

Well, I hope your theory is wrong, but only because I don't want to think that my shrimp are stressed.

I have one green shrimp that is almost always reddish coloured, and others that are always green. So far the young seem to be mostly green, although I do see them turn a kind of muddy mossy colour sometimes.

Interesting. I bought 4 from LFS, one is reddish, the other three are brownish. All such "assorted shrimp" sold at that store are reddish or brownish, and they seem happy. My shrimps are carrying eggs all, if they are sick or stressed, I can not image they can breed.

Good point about the breeding, doubleflake. I've seen my reddish green shrimp with eggs several times.

Come to think of it, when I bought the shrimp at the LFS, there was a wide range of colours, including a lot of green ones. If the colouration were stress-related, wouldn't all the shrimp in the store be showing the red or darker colouration?

Maybe it is a generational thing...?

So what I think of related to the color variation is water condition and food, if they are belonging to the same species.