Some New Cal shrimp

[Damien]

The temperature in New Cal start to cool down.
Here are sound critters found in a creek of the New Cal west coast.

This one is just 5mm long :

[Matuva]

Nice ones ;)

I really like the reddish color a lot.

I wonder if selective breeding can be performed easely.

Caridina typus are said to breed in brakish water only, but I really wonder about that, I'm pretty sure they can hatch in freshwater.

[Damien]

There is an interesting article on the forum :

Breeding Paratya australiensis

 

Quote

If you can, obtain 'headwater' shrimp to breed from.

 

What I mean by this is, try to collect your adults from areas that are well away from estuaries, as far inland as possible and better yet, above a natural block to upstream migration (like a waterfall). The reason for this is that shrimp collected from these areas will have a natural tendency to produce large eggs (Cook et al., 2007; Fawcett et al., 2010; Hancock, 1998; Hancock et al., 1998; Walsh, 1993). Why? Because larvae in these areas have to develop quickly before they are washed away downstream (e.g. over a waterfall).

 

Why are large eggs important for breeding in aquariums?

 

Because it means that:

• larvae from headwater adults are more likely to develop completely in freshwater

   

• larvae from headwater adults are likely to develop quickly before settling onto the substrate and feeding like adults. In contrast, low-land shrimp have longer larval stages and may need to be raised in brackish water to develop properly. This is especially true for larvae from adults found in brackish water.

   

 


Therefore larvae from 'headwater' adults will be far easier to raise than larvae from adults collected from low-land areas. More in depth analysis of this topic can be found in Cook et al. (2007), Fawcett et al., (2010), Hancock (1998), Hancock et al.(1998) and Walsh (1993) but is probably not needed by the average aquarist.

 

Here are some examples of the difference that having headwater shrimp makes to breeding them:

 

Hancock (1998) used the following method to culture headwater P. australiensis:

• Berried females were collected from freshwater creeks and kept at 11, 18 and 21*C. Females were fed Elodea.

   

• Eggs kept at 11*C took 60 days to hatch, whilst those at 18 -21*C took 20-25 days.

   

• Once the eggs hatched, the larvae were fed with algae scraped from the walls of an aquarium kept outside. Water changes were made every two days (no filter mentioned).

   

• All the larvae kept at 11*C died, whilst those at 18 and 21*C developed normally.

   

• Larvae took between 15 and 28 days to develop before settling onto the bottom.

   

 

In contrast, Walsh 1993 used the following method to grow P. australiensis collected from brackish estuaries:

• Adults were collected from 0.5 - 1.5 ppt salinity.

   

• Upon hatching, seawater was added to boost the salinity to 15ppt (within one hour). Larvae kept at salinity below 5ppt didn't survive. Survival was highest at 15ppt. Larvae hatched at night on approximately the 25th day from the females being berried.

   

• Larvae swam near the bottom with their tails pointing upwards

   

• Water was changed every 2-3 days

   

• Larvae were fed with newly hatched Artemia (Baby Brine Shrimp or BBS).

   

• Larval development took 28-45 days, by which time the larvae reach 4-5mm

   

• The larvae then settled onto the bottom and began feeding like adults.

   

 

Other authors (e.g. Hancock and Bunn, 1997) fed larvae using FPOM (Fine Particulate Organic Matter) which is organic matter less than 1mm in diameter. This ranges from microalgae and diatoms to decomposing plants, leaves and wood. With this in mind, powdered algae, like Spirulina, or finely ground shrimp food may make the perfect larval food.

 

[Jul]

Hi all!

Very nice pics Damien! How was the water flow in the creek you got them in? Was it deep? Were they on the banks of the creek or in the middle where water flows faster (I presume)? Just trying to know which species can be found in different conditions around here. :)

Here are some of mine, I'm guessing they are Paratyas? Not sure about that, they do look similar to Paratya Australiensis to me, and after trying to ID them with the help of our local book, I'm not sure, my biggest "Paratya" female (berried since last week) is exactly 30mm long, and the book mentions individuals up to 27mm, not more. Most of them come from a creek near Mt. Mou, I also have some Caridinas in there, but they were harder to take pics of. The red one is my pride (and she's berried too - yay!), she comes from a small creek just outside Nouméa, she was caught with a couple other reddish females (not as much as her), a couple quite colored red males and an interesting blue male. There were also some "tiger" patterns in some of the other shrimp caught that day, mainly yellow stripes on a blue/dark body, I'll try to get new pics when they possible.

 

These pics are a couple weeks old, they were taken with a friend's camera and I just got them a couple days earlier.

First, the "Big Momma" as we call her:

Here she is flirting with a male on the driftwood, no wonder she's berried now :)

The flirting male went to tell his buddy about it:

And finally, the berried red Caridina (she shows the same tiger stripes pattern as the others mentioned above in my post):

 

I really want to isolate the red individuals but I first need to find and cycle a decent tank for them. I'd also like to isolate the "tiger" phenotype but that means another tank, as you all know... :)

 

Cheers everyone, have a nice day!

[NoGi]

Great pics guys. Colouration similar to some of our natives

[Damien]

Thanks Jul for your post.
I found them by night near the river bank on plants. The river is calm right there with some fast flowing water between the pools.

The red Caridina seems to have an incredible color! Really nice! Hope to find some too ;-)

Can't help you about the ID, I don't have the book with currently.

[Damien]

19 hours ago, NoGi said:

Great pics guys. Colouration similar to some of our natives

Thank you!

[Matuva]

H Jul

The Paratya - yes, this is a Paratya ^^)  - is pretty similar to the Paratya Sp 2.

As for the red caridina, it is just an incredible one. Stunning! Good catch!