Bamboo Shrimp & Pics

[GunmetalBlue]

Hi guys, I have two Bamboo shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) named "Buzzy" and "Bambi." Buzzy is brownish while Bambi is reddish-orange and they have a couple of other differences to tell them apart. I thought the brownish one would turn reddish-orange after he/she's been with me a while, but he/she rarely takes on that tinge. They do change colors, but it's more like they change the intensity of their color, becoming darker or lighter. It can vary throughout the day, looking different in different lighting. They seemed to be mature when I got them and are a little over 3 inches long. I have no idea whether they are male or female, but if I were to judge by their fuller carapace over their pleopod area, I'd guess female.

Buzzy tends to be brownish.


A small window of time when the late afternoon sun hit the aquarium.


Bambi is reddish/orange and has a white dots on each side.


The dragon look.


No, those are not little white worms! Buzzy's filtering where part of the water comes out, those are motion-blur bubbles.


Their fans look quite delicate considering their somewhat clumsy body.


They're strange but very interesting creatures


Just got this pic of Buzzy's molted exoskeleton. After moving into a larger tank the two seemed quite happy. Then about a week later, Buzzy stopped eating and moving around. I thought "Oh no, what's wrong?" But just like my Macrobrachium, apparently they have reduced activity before a molt. The next day, Bambi did the same thing, less activity, then a molt.


I've given up trying to take pics of the molting process - basically a movie would better depict the event. They must literally jump out of their skin once the carapace on the top of their head area splits open. The most I've witnessed is the split open carapace on my Macrobrachium and when I looked closer, the shrimp started vibrating. I thought she was having convulsions or something! I ran to get the camera which took only 5 seconds, but by the time I got back to the tank, she had already hopped out of her shell.

-GB

[Pi]

I don't know what to be more jealous of...the shrimp or the camera? Forgive me if you've said this already, but what do you use? I have the hardest time getting decent pictures of anything inside a tank, much less the detail on things like the fans. Anyway, great pics.

Pi

[GunmetalBlue]

Thanks Pi, I still have my first digicam I got over 2 1/2 years ago, a Nikon 5700. That's very old for anything digitally related. It definitely got good mileage; I've used it on all sorts of different subjects both indoors and out, far and near, and is easy to carry around. Only problem is, like most older digital cameras, it has a slow response time from when you click the shutter to when it actually takes the picture.

For close-up stuff, basically try to get something with good macro features (for instance, the Nikon 5700 can get within 3 inches and still focus, the Nikon 8800, which I'll probably get next, within 1.2 inches). Also look for something with lots of X optical zoom (as opposed to digital zoom). There are tons of good cameras now for fairly cheap. As to your Bamboo, hope you snagged a few pics to remember your first shrimp by.

-GB

[chlorophyll]

This is wonderful photography
I especially like the afternoon sun and filterign the bubbles photos.
I can rock some video games, am a decent sketch artist, but still manage to lack the dexterity and steady hands of a photographer.

One of our M. rosenbergii just moulted after days of not eating. Almost without fail, one of them not eating means they're ready to moult. He's the biggest one too ... probably in the 10-11 inch range not counting those huge arms. Late last week the female prawn that just had babies (now 12 days old) stopped eating. Was worried because she was recovering from a lot of previous damage. But she moulted. Got both her claws and all her walking legs back, and her broken rostrum now has a cute little tip... oh and thank god she can smell again with her new antennae. I was feeding her really well... I really thought she'd take longer to regenerate all of that.

Seen the crayfish moulting video at bluecrayfish.com ?
Pretty wild.

[GunmetalBlue]

> "I can rock some video games, am a decent sketch artist, but still manage to lack the dexterity and steady hands of a photographer.

Hi Chlorophyll, the first takes practice and some coordination, the second, practice and talent, the third, just a tripod or a fishing reel box and a stack of CD's. Why the box and CD's you ask? Something to place your camera on and the CD's let you control the height - higher = more CD's, lower = less CD's, very technical adjustments as you can see, hehe.

That's great to hear, the speed of regeneration on your mom prawn. The idea of molting is strange and rather fascinating. Like I've wondered, right after the molt while they are still soft, do they quickly expand and grow some new parts within that day? Sounds like your prawn babies are humming along there - surely one of them is earmarked for when I pick up my "freebie" shrimp...

Oh wow!!! Thanks for the video link. At first the crayfish looks like it's dying, the way he/she flopped over on its back. And yes, they do "jump" out of their carapace, don't they? I've seen my Macrobrachium right after the molt and she couldn't stand on her legs, she was sort of crumpled on the ground looking rather helpless for a while, although she could do the" backward jet" swim.

-GB

[chlorophyll]

Moulting seems like such a dramatic occurrence after seeing that video. I saw my crayfish moult, but not the entire thing ... haven't witnessed that writhing before the moult. I wonder if it's painful. I wouldn't think so, but it does look draining!

I took a bunch of pictures today... I didn't save them properly so they're a bit slow to load.
here's one of the big prawn moult
pic
He is more like 9 inches than 10-11. Although he may be close to 10 now after that moult.

Feelin' pretty studly in his new skin. This beast is a real beauty.

[GunmetalBlue]

Chlorophyll, your first pic startled me - I thought you took a live prawn in the process of molting out of the water! But now see that it's just the exoskeleton. Unlike my clear-shelled ones, yours are very colorful. Do you save the exoskeleton? I thought to save the Bamboo one but all I had was rubbing alcohol (70%) and figured that probably wasn't a good way to do it.

I still can't get over the prawn's enormously long claw arms! It looks as if it would be too heavy to wave around, much less wiggle out of. Just like the days of old when people wore a ton of heavy armor and carried heavy swords - you'd think one would be pooped out even before the battle began. Your prawn deservedly has a self-satisfied grin on his face.

In the pic below, if you look at the carapace, there are areas that have a fine layer of algae on it (gee, I hope that's not a bad sign or anything). Anyway, there's a clean line where there is no algae; that part must lie under their tail exoskeleton. Now I've heard that a shrimp bends like an upside down U before they molt. So I'm thinking that action causes the carapace above the head to "pop" open, much like a car hood except the kind that lifts from the front windshield side. So figured maybe that's how the process first begins, by bending and "popping the hood" so to speak. Anyway, just a weird thought...


-GB

[Pi]

Now I've heard that a shrimp bends like an upside down U before they molt. So I'm thinking that action causes the carapace above the head to "pop" open, much like a car hood except the kind that lifts from the front windshield side. So figured maybe that's how the process first begins, by bending and "popping the hood" so to speak. Anyway, just a weird thought...

Hmm...I think you may be right. My ghost shrimp curl very tightly before they molt, and the carapace is where the 'break' is...sadly, for whatever reason(yes, usually running to fetch the camera) I've always missed the final process. But the idea of "popping the hood" is a very logical one.

Pi

[chlorophyll]

I usually don't keep the exoskeletons ... never have sprayed one with that stuff that's supposed to preserve them (what is that stuff?)
This time somebody else came in and pulled the skeleton out. So I just took the opportunity to lay down a ruler and shoot a pic!

What's strange is that I always though the carapace overlaps the shell of the first abdominal segment, and not the other way around. But from your observation, looks like it is the other way.