Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hi all,

I have a vigorous colony of cherry shrimp (hundreds) that breed like flies, and lately I have noticed two that have carapace parts that are literally sapphire blue. They seem perfectly healthy other than this.

Has anyone else seen this? Just wondering what your experiences are.

Thanks!
ASFC

Sounds like you've lucked out and got a few of the blue cherries. I've never seen them but have read about them.

There are no "blue" cherries. I have a colony of blue Neocaridina here and their offspring are all not blue. I've had another colony before with the same results. The blue seems to be somehow artificial (probably food coloring that becomes somehow permanent in the shrimp).

People just see pictures of these blue shrimp and spread rumors that there are "blue cherries." I have yet to see a real, blue dwarf shrimp with blue offspring. I will set up a species page for the "blue" shrimp soon too, with pictures of the adults and offspring to clear this up once and for all.

Trust me I wish their offspring would be blue, too, but they just aren't.

Asoftieforcrusties wrote:Hi all,

and lately I have noticed two that have carapace parts that are literally sapphire blue. They seem perfectly healthy other than this.

I have seen discoloration in parts of a shrimp before, which is usually not a good sign. Just keep observing those shrimp. Either the discoloration will disappear or the shrimp probably will at some point (i.e. it dies).

Mustafa wrote:

Asoftieforcrusties wrote:Hi all,

and lately I have noticed two that have carapace parts that are literally sapphire blue. They seem perfectly healthy other than this.

I have seen discoloration in parts of a shrimp before, which is usually not a good sign. Just keep observing those shrimp. Either the discoloration will disappear or the shrimp probably will at some point (i.e. it dies).

I've seen blue/partially blue coloured neocaradina show up in my tanks. I haven't bought or introduced any new blood from outside in over 10yrs. during that time I've seen possibly 3 examples of a blue or partially blue coloured shrimp show up in my wild coloured shrimp.

Next time people find blue off spring segregate them and attempt to see if they breed other blue ones or not. If they don't I would imagine it being an issue with the shrimps health in some way. Food colour that somehow never goes away doesn't sound right as even fish that are dyed/injected even lose their colouring after having them for a few months(not that I've ever bought a dyed fish or will ever, it's just what happens to the fish). I'd imagine a shrimp would eventually molt all the colour away unless it was fed a constant supply of this supposed "blue dyed food".