Shrimp ID?

[GekkoGeck0]

The LFS I frequent here gets in Amano shrimp on a regular basis, but when I went in one day, they told me that they didn't have any, but they had some "black algae eating shrimp".

Well, they had the Amanos still in the tank, but also these charming little critters:







Best I can do, I think. The last one was taken with the flash, and I don't have macro on my crappy camera. That's also why the driftwood and him don't appear as dark, or opaque. The pictures before the last properly represent the true colours.

I picked up five. Far as I can tell, they're the wild form of Neocaridina denticulata sinensis, but then again, I'm relatively new to keeping shrimp. The shrimp in the picture has the lightest stripe on his/her back. One of the others is an orangish colour with a lighter coloured stripe. The others either have less brightly coloured stripes, and one has none at all.

Are they the wild form of RCS, or am I mistaken on my ID? They're interesting, and I'd love to breed them, if I even have a male in there.

[Mustafa]

Most definitely not a Neocaridina at all. It looks like one of the indian Caridina species i've had before. They should be breedable in freshwater. By the way, the shrimp in the picture is a female and I would be surprised if you have any males as these shrimp are imports. The males look completely different (see-through, no line down the back).

[GekkoGeck0]

Most definitely not a Neocaridina at all. It looks like one of the indian Caridina species i've had before. They should be breedable in freshwater. By the way, the shrimp in the picture is a female and I would be surprised if you have any males as these shrimp are imports. The males look completely different (see-through, no line down the back).

Wow. I can try to take more pictures later of the others, if they come out of hiding (they spend a lot of time in my plants).

I have one that came from the same batch that's dark, no stripe, but a clear brown. You say the males are see-through, would that apply to a translucent brown, or only a mostly clear specimen?

What are the characteristics besides transclucent qualities that identify female vs. male?

[Mustafa]

I have one that came from the same batch that's dark, no stripe, but a clear brown. You say the males are see-through, would that apply to a translucent brown, or only a mostly clear specimen?

A stripe is not a necessity for a female. There can be females without or with weak striping, too. When I say "see through" I don't necessarily mean colorless. They can be see-through with coloration, kind of like amber (not necessarily amber color though).

What are the characteristics besides transclucent qualities that identify female vs. male?

Same as with any other dwarf shrimp. Females are larger, "plumper" and have an extended abdominal section to accommodate eggs if they are sexually mature and ready to mate. Males are more streamlined in general and especially around their abdominal section. Check out the differences between male and female in the red cherry species description to get a general idea about body shape differences.