Amano vs. Indian Algae/Rainbow shrimp | ID and spawning

[cz]

I've had three Amano shrimp for approx. three months, and recently purchased three Indian Algae/Rainbow shrimp (according to LFS). They look very similar (including color), though two of the new shrimp are juvenilles. Pictures on this site of both species appear very similar. Are there any physical differences, besides color, between the two species?

One of the new shrimp is carrying eggs in her swimerettes. Do you recommend I set-up a brackish tank (as I would with Amanos) or simply wait for minature shrimp per Mustafa's profile?

Great site. Thanks.

[retardo]

someone pointed out to me that the rainbow shrimp look very similar to malayan shrimp in markings. malayan shrimp, however, grow larger (to amano size) than rainbows and juvy malayan are almost indistinguishable from rainbows, except malayans carry hundreds of tiny eggs, and rainbows carry the larger eggs.

--Depends on what you consider "rainbow" shrimp. My Indian Algae Shrimp definitely do not look like the Malayan shrimp. There are however "Malayan" shrimp that produce miniature young and have large eggs. They look almost exactly the same as the "other" Malayans and come from the approximate same area, too.

Mustafa

[cz]

Very helpfull, thanks. The "Rainbow shrimp" in this case look much more like Amanos than Malaysian shrimp, fwiw.