Cherry and Amano Shrimp Interbreeding

[TxBabyCat]

Have had a shrimp tank for a while, like about 2 yrs. and have kept Cherry Shrimp and Amano Shrimp in there. We had 6 Amano's - 5 females and 1 male we bought at the store. Started out with 12 Cherry Shrimp.

While looking in there the other day I swore I counted 11 Amano's, so since they dont have their babies in freshwater.. it was like hmmmm. The other night Bill got 2 Amano and some Cherries for a friend that was over. The next day I counted the Amano's and there were still 11 and 5 of those are males. Looking closer one of the female Amano's has some red eggs under her belly as the reg Amano have gray eggs. They are sparatic and not full bellied like they carry the gray eggs.

I didnt think this was suppose to happen. But they are cross breeding. You can see on some of the Amano's that they have red lines down their back and some of their dots on the sides are reddish in appearance. Also noticed that their leg joints appear to be reddish tinted.

[Adroit]

I don't think Amano can cross breed with Cherries. Plus the Amano shrimps need brackish water for their egg to fully mature.

[Dr. Awkward]

I don't think it's possible for them to cross breed. They are from different genuses. Also, RCS are high breeding form while Amanos are low, meaning RCS eggs hatch into little shrimp while Amanos hatch into larvae which then turn into a different larvae, then little shrimp. The very few people who are able to breed Amanos use full salt during the larvae form.

[OOwl]

I don't know anything about shrimp, I just wanted to say that you take really amazing pictures! :)

[alta678]

The color on my Amanos changes at times. They shift from the light brown to the red color with red veins at times.

[TxBabyCat]

So how did I end up with 13 Amano's out of 6 to start with? We had 5 females and 1 male.

There are 11 Amano's in there now after giving a male and a female to a friend of Bill's. 5 of these left are males and there are 6 females.

Its hard to see those eggs on that pic, but her eggs are yellowish orange, the Amano's have light gray when first there and as they develop to larvae they are brown and strewn all over the tank for fish food.

In any case we have 5 more Amano shrimp then we had 6 months ago.:confuzeld:

[Dr. Awkward]

The only thing I can think of is that you have some other kind of Caridina. That would also explain the color changes, the stripes on their backs and their size in relation to the red cherries, but man, those really look like Amanos to me! The dots and dashes on the sides and size of the eggs make me 90% sure they're Amanos.

[Typical Tony]

For sure they are not crossbreeding and i have read of instances of amanos successfully breeding in freshwater so that could be the thing... but it would be near impossible for the cherries to breed with the amanos.

[TxBabyCat]

Here is some more pics of the female with the yellow orange eggs and the ones with the gray eggs. These are clearer pics. You can tell a difference in the size of the eggs with the close-ups.

[EAST_TX_RN]

Here is some more pics of the female with the yellow orange eggs and the ones with the gray eggs. These are clearer pics. You can tell a difference in the size of the eggs with the close-ups.

You know, I don't know a thing about shrimp breeding, but I do know you are one hell of a fish photographer! What is your secret?

[Sollo]

Yep - love the pictures!

I wouldn;t second guess what is going on here since it is virtually impossible to breed Amanos - yet for an extended period of time we have both Amanos and Cherry shrimp by the hundreds - the Amanos were getting taken into the Rena XP-3's (very brackish) and we do salt at every water change (so there is the cycle) and we had 'em going nuts!

...then the clown loaches cought on to what they had up top in the tree and plants! :D

[Travis_Conklin]

The only thing I can think of is that you have some other kind of Caridina. That would also explain the color changes, the stripes on their backs and their size in relation to the red cherries, but man, those really look like Amanos to me! The dots and dashes on the sides and size of the eggs make me 90% sure they're Amanos.

X2

I had the same problem, now I have all kinds of different colored shrimp. (Lot of the color depends on what you feed them.) "I bet you are feeding them something red in color." I call mine ghetto shrimp. They are slowly losing the red and taking on a more natural form like in the wild. They can change very beautiful colors and are very hardy shrimp. I have them in all my tanks as cleaners/feeders...because of the live babies. Also keep them with my Amanos but my Amanos are so big now if they get a hold of one of them they are lunch. My Amanos are about 2" to 2 1/2". Never seen any cross and all the info I have read says...No.

[EAST_TX_RN]

I know what happened! :D

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff171/SHARONKS/FUNNY/fairy-sitting-on-Moon.pnghttp://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff171/SHARONKS/FUNNY/shrimp-clipart9.gif

[TxBabyCat]

roflmaoroflmaoroflmao Sharon!!! Oh and thanks for the comments on the pics :)

[EAST_TX_RN]

roflmaoroflmaoroflmao Sharon!!! Oh and thanks for the comments on the pics :)

Ha! I was wondering when you were going to see this!:D

[TxBabyCat]

Really cute.. I like it.

[pam916]

The only thing I can think of is that you have some other kind of Caridina. That would also explain the color changes, the stripes on their backs and their size in relation to the red cherries, but man, those really look like Amanos to me! The dots and dashes on the sides and size of the eggs make me 90% sure they're Amanos.


x3

[NursePlaty]

How did you manage to take pictures of shrimp that close to see eggs? O.O

[TxBabyCat]

I use the Macro setting on my camera and get about 6 inches away from the picture subject. I take a lot to get a few good ones.

[pillguy]

Anyone have experience with shrimp as scavengers in a Tang. Tank(Front's, Leluepi, Julie's). Would they be able to function or would they become a danger to the smaller fish as they got larger?