Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

hello all. I am trying to breed ghost shrimp (just for fun, not as feeders) and am having a heck of a time locating mature females. I got one the other day that is quite large, larger than I've seen, so I don't think she's a P. paludosus.

Well, she was berried within the first week I had her, but lost those eggs. I'm pretty sure it's because they were sterile. So I'm wondering if I put her in with the rest of my Palaemonetes, can her eggs be fertilized by a male of the same genus but different species?

Also, how long does it take for ghost shrimp to mature? I've had a batch for more than two months and not a one has developed ovaries. Maybe by some stroke of luck, I got all males that time? Or is it possible that I got a ghost shrimp species that requires brackish water to breed?

thanks in advance for your input. I have found this site invaluable for its members' expertise

There are auctions constantly on ebay and aquabid. You can get about 100 feeders that will cost you something like 25 cents each including shipping. Many of thse will be berried females. Pick those out, along with a few males, and sell the rest to your local LFS. You will probably break even.

I have no clue if the two secies wilinterbreed, but I would guess no as their ranges often overlap.

badflash wrote: I have no clue if the two secies wilinterbreed, but I would guess no as their ranges often overlap.

ahh, that makes sense.

Thanks for the advice, badflash. I was trying to hold out on buying them online because the shipping will probably cost more than the shrimp. It looks like I'll have to give in, though. Sigh, the things I'll do for this "hobby"

The shrimp are basically free, you pay for shipping.

If you have a local LFS that has live food, they can order them for you for about 25 cents each. That is your best bet, then you can selected berried females. My LFS lets me do that.

I keep mine with Endlers Guppies, no issues. If I want to keep some babies I move the female to a breeding tank when the eggs change color.

My 2 cents: Although not proven to be impossible, it is unlikely that species with the Palaemonetes genus (as currently described) will interbreed (produce offspring). It's even been shown that offspring of the same estuarine Palaemonetes species collected from geographically distinct areas generate less fit offspring than the same species from the same locale(!): http://estuariesandcoasts.org/cdrom/EST ... 65_174.pdf

Also...
"In the present study, interspecific breeding between Palaemonetes pugio and P. vulgaris was not successful. Eggs were not retained and no larvae were produced. Females extruded eggs in what appeared to be a normal fashion, but retained them no longer than three days."

"Interspecific breeding attempts involving P. intermedius failed also to yield mature eggs or larvae. These results, however, are somewhat tentative, because experimental controls were not uniformly maintained.
Hybridization research under more controlled conditions, similar to the current conditions for crosses of P. pugio and P. vulgaris is recommended."

So anyway, if there is doubt that the estuarine Palaemonetes sp. can interbreed then it's even more unlikely that P. paludosus or P. kadiakensis (ie, primarily freshwater species) could interbreed with P. pugio/vulgaris/intermedius. I don't think you'd find any evidence of that...one would suspect this is so by observing the differences in egg and larval development in the aquarium between P. paludosus/kadiakensis vs. P. pugio,etc.

thanks for the info, Pugio! I feel edified

Anyway, I will be ordering shrimp from Aquabid. I can get 25 for $6, so it's even cheaper than I've been getting them at Petsmart. For some reason, all of my other LFS can not or will not locate ghost shrimp for me. They claim they're hard to come by *shrug* Anyway, the feeder ones are such poor quality that I wouldn't want to mess with them anyway.

Thanks for the help and will let you all know how it goes. Hopefully I'll be able to get pics, too!