Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

hi guys how do i differentiate male and female cherry shrimps?[/i]

Well if u check this website out more thoroughly you'll see that they tell you that.

Anyhow, females gradually become really red while males have very little red spots if any at all and retain that way even through adult form.

What I want to know is...how come my female cherries go red sometimes and back to pale again...over and over...and they get pale at night...its weird.

By looking at their species description in the shrimp varieties page.

Have you read any of the information I have provided on this website? I suggest you go and read all that info and perform some searches in the forum before asking any further questions. One would think that a basic question like that has been asked and answered many times in the almost two years this website has been online. Doing your homework is a prerequisite to participating in this forum in any valuable way.

i have read the articles in this website.however im a little confused...do maless have the white portions on their head???or is it just the females which have it?

Before you all start attacking this guy (who probably really didn't do all the required homework, I agree) on the shrimp varieties page it only says that females are usually a lot redder than males, but I am pretty sure that I have seen some of the forum members in here identify "unusually red" (as in "too red to determine by color whether they are male or female") males by other characteristics than their color, and I am not sure what they look at (and, just in case you wonder, I have done my homework thoroughly)

I am sure the info is available, but there are no easy search terms that do not turn up a lot of irrelevant stuff and the few pearls of knowledge do have a way of getting burried.

So, one way I know of ID-ing a female (which is not mentioned on the varieties page) is by the yellow saddle on her back. It's not always there (so not all shrimp without a saddle are male) but if it is it's a female. Oh, eggs are a dead give-away too, of course.

Those guys swimming nervously around in the front of your tank are males doing their mating dance. Appearantly, it's an indicator you have a freshly molded female in your tank somewhere.

Now, I think that something in the way the back is arched of the males vs the females you are supposed to get 100% certain, that's what I think I understood from the forums but that might just be BS.

So I am ready for y'all to start telling me how it really is. Remember, I'm no expert, just a guy with a few cherries in his tank wondering if they're male or female, lol

There is no reason to attack anyone. The reason why I point people at the shrimp varieties page is because there are actually *pictures* of a male and several females that clearly show the differences in body shape of *mature* males and females. The pictures are representative. And as the saying goes....a picture speaks a thousand words. If you look at the pictures long enough you will see the differences.

Let it fly. If we think you are being a lazy no-account, we'll let you know. If we think you are totaly ignorant, but educable we'll give it a shot. If we think that isn't posible we'll steer you towards goldfish. While I don't believe the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, ( as stupid people are very creative) I do believe lazy people ask the same question again and again ad. nosium. If we didn't make fun of the lazy, that is all we would do.

Let me give you an example of a REALLY stupid question. I was on a Speaker's Team for an electic utility. I had just explained how the power cycle produced steam to spin a tubine to make electricity that went out on the electrical grid.

A hand went up at the back of the room. The questioner asked why we went to so much trouble when all you needed to do was buy these little outlets from the local hardware store....

am i right to say the only obvious difference between male and female is the white/yellow stuff near the head of the cherry shrimp?

Hi rtcc86,

Yellow = ovaries, so yup those are female.
Males tend to be more white/clear the females or have less red.

TKD

Males also tend to have a sleeker body while the females are broader bodied and usually have longer swimmerlets. In a non-stressed population adult females either show a saddle or have eggs on their swimmerlets.

good news guys! one of my females have eggs in saddle!! now i have another question...how do you know if the eggs are already fertilised???

The eggs are fertilized shortly after mating which occurs shortly after the female molts. The male deposits a packet of sperm underneath the female and the eggs are fertilized as they travel from the ovary to the pleopods.

You will know the eggs are fertilized when she is carrying them beneath her abdomen.

oh yea! that means i can expect babies soon.. *prays hard*

hi i was just wondering if the eggs are not fertilised, will they still travel down to the saddle?

Yes, the eggs will be transferred to the swimmerlets, but if not fertilized they will dissapear in a day or two.