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My LFS is offering Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp. Anyone know anything about these?

Hi Brad,

I have those guys. The truth is that there are several species that are included in what is usually sold as "Rainbow Shrimp". I found three species so far. It is made up of primarily one species, though, with the others mixed in here and there. They are not from Malaysia, however, but from India. No idea who got the idea to call them "Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp." They were also falsely described as "Plaemon hendersoni", but that is a fantasy name...it does not exist. It is actually a Caridina species.

The one main species in the "rainbow shrimp" mix is variable in color, but not as variable as some retailers want you to believe. For example...they are always described as being able to turn blue...but that only happens right after molting, and only lasts a few hours (and it's not intense blue but just a hint of blue). Most of the time they do not even turn blue after molting. Usually, they are kind of brownish, greyish, greenish, reddish with either a thin or no line on the back. When they are carrying eggs they get this really thick line on their backs and their colors turn more intensive. I like them a lot acctually.

I just told at least one major online retailer to change that on their website (and they did), but local stores will all carry them under the misnomer.

They are like most Caridina or Neocaridina in their requirements (just treat them like your Red Cherries). They produce fully developed young and seem to be pretty fertile (I have tons of ovigerous females here)....that is..if you actually manage to get males and females. Most shipments seem to be female only for some reason.

I am in the process of having them scientifically identified. There will be more info about them soon on my website, but I will definitely *not* call them Rainbow Shrimp and now way "Malaysian."

Take care,
Mustafa

HI Mustafa,

It is commonly know as Malayan shrimp in Our region and it is easily caught in the river or stream in Malaysia. That how the name came about.

I have friend living in malaysia and have been catching them for his planted tank.

It also call Rainbow Shrimp because it will sometime change color but very light color.

Here we do not call it rainbow shrimp but only call it as malayan shrimp as sometime it does not change color like a rainbow color. just to standardise the naming in the local market.

Thanks
Best Regards.
TS

Thanks for the info. I will probably pick some up tomorrow. Hopefully I will get some males.

Hi TS,

The ones that are imported into the US are different though. They come from India and I know the guy who catches and exports them from there into the US. He is the main exporter there.

Some clueless importer and wholesaler in the US must have gotten the idea to call them "Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp" anyway although they are from India, because none of them (including the exporter from India) know what species this shrimp really is. It is actually exported under many other names.

I would like to get some of those "Malayan Shrimp" from Malaysia, though, to determine what species they are and also breed them. South East Asia has many interesting shrimp and you are very lucky that you can practically catch them in your backyard.

Mustafa

Petshrimp.com wrote:Hi TS,

South East Asia has many interesting shrimp and you are very lucky that you can practically catch them in your backyard.

Mustafa

HI Mustafa, I do not have that luxury to catch them here. But i have the option to feed my LFS information i have and he will try his best to bring in.

I just got some shrimps.

- Green Neon Shrimp.
- Red Neon Shrimp.

But they belong to same family. I m trying to understand them, and they do change from neon green or red neon color. or to yellowish. But those green will remain green back.

Only the red neon will turn reddish. with some strip horizontal across the body.

I m waiting for a chance to take a picture. and they love to hide when i m around.

Cheers.
TS

It's impossible to tell you what shrimp those are without at least seeing pictures....but even then it might not be possible. Usually, they need to be examined under the microscope since coloration is variable among shrimp species.

What you probably have, though. are *all* Caridina babaulti. Check my website for more info on them and a picture of one of mine. The same shrimp you see there can also become red and get a white stripe on the back.

Mustafa

My LFS ordered some red cherries awhile ago and their supplier sent them a batch of what they were calling "yellow-green algae eating shrimp" instead -- and that was all the info my LFS had. The shrimp were all about 1/2" long, and they all looked quite different, although the supplier claimed they were all supposed to be the same species. Colours ranged from practically clear to green to turquoise to reddish to brownish. I was curious, so I bought a few.

Several of them turned out to be green shrimp (they've become very green in my tank), but others I still haven't been able to identify. They sound like they might be rainbows, but I haven't been able to find any decent photos of them on the web.

Would these be rainbows?



Here's another angle showing the white stripe on its back...



And here's one with blue colouring...



This photo isn't really doing justice to the blue. Interesting note about the blue colour appearing after a moult.

How big do rainbows get? So far they're all about the same size as my cherries.

Oh and by the way, do green shrimp have a white stripe? I've seen pics with and without...

Thanks!

Hi Amanda!

These shrimp all look like they are some form of Caridina babaulti or some closely related species...i.e. they are the "green shrimp" or some related species. That's what they look like anyway. Yes, the green shrimp get a white stripe on their backs. However, it comes and goes. Sometimes they have it and sometimes they don't...

These do not look at all like the shrimp commonly sold as "rainbows shrimp."

Thanks for the quick reply!

So do you think they could all be the same species? Here's another that was in the same batch...



The green ones I have now are very green -- much like the pic you have in the varieties section.

Yes, I think they are all the same species or very closely related species. It's tought to generalize about Indian shrimp species (that's what they are) since none of the imported animals have been scientifically described. In my tank the same shrimp can turn red and back to green in a matter of hours. The same applies to the white line in the back...withing a couple of hours it can disappear and appear again.

Mustafa

Hi amanda_h

Were you ever able to breed these Shrimp ?

John

I don't think she come around much any more... OLD thread...

TKD

Newjohn wrote:Hi amanda_h

Were you ever able to breed these Shrimp ?

John

Yeah this thread is 3 years old

I know that this thread is old.
But this is a very interesting Shrimp and maybe someone else was lucky enough to get there hands on a few.

And maybe some visitors to this Forum would like to see different Shrimp that have been found in LPS or look at other pictures besides RCS & CRS.