Halocaridina rubra laying eggs

[KenCotigirl]

Laying eggs may be the wrong phrase but what else do you call it? While looking at my shrimp I noticed a shrimp on the top of the rocks bent over apparently cleaning herself. What caught my eye was some dirt on her pleopods. After taking a second look the dirt was small eggs. Cool! Closer inspection I noticed she was making a pumping motion by arching her body. More eggs were appearing near her first two pairs of pleopods. Also the dark area on her carapace was getting lighter. I was able to see the eggs desending from her carapace to her pleopods. I wish I could have video taped it. I probably will never see it again. I watched this for about 10 minutes. Over a dozen eggs were layed and the dark spot was completely gone. Other shrimp in the vicinity became visable excited during her egg laying. One shrimp chased her a few times and she lost two eggs while being chased. Even after a hour one shrimp was still excited and chased her. I did capture a picture of her with eggs as she rested on the glass. The eggs expanded several times in size after laying.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the detailed description! That's pretty much how all caridean shrimp (true shrimp) transport eggs from their ovaries to their pleopods. In the process the eggs get fertilized by the sperm package that the male left right where the eggs exit the ovaries during mating.