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What is this shrimp?


sdlTBfanUK

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I have this odd bod shrimp in my tank of Taiwan bees. It is all black with white spots on the tail tips and a brown/golden stripe down the back. I haven't come across this type before and don't know whether to keep it in the tank or not. It is near the centre lower half of the picture?

1994239965_DSC00190-Edited.jpg.68d24c4838cabf841043700330982f23.jpgWhile I am at it, is this a red bolt or just a golden bee below, I should only have Taiwan bees in the tank (ie no Crystals etc), but I don't know the purity of the shrimps I got from the internet, ie what genes they carry? In the picture above for instance I didn't buy/have, shadow mosura, king kong, black taiwan bee shrimp so they have come from parents that don't look at all like those - I don't  mind that as I wanted as big an assortment as possible anyway?

157472470_DSC00205-Edited.jpg.850b288da32440dfdc52e19af21da262.jpg

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It's very difficult to confirm without knowing the parents.

Sorry.

But nice tank nonetheless. ?

It is very unusual to have a strip like that in Caridina. It is seen more in Neo Caridina. 

Edited by jayc
speeeling
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I did some more looking on internet and came upon this which looks the same and is called a black skunk pinto(never heard of it before):-

https://www.shrimpcorner.co.uk/freshwater-shrimps/skunk-pinto-shrimp-black.html

It says it is Caridina Serrata sp so if it is one of those (and that is what it is?) I guess it is something that must be able to breed with the Taiwan Bees - I only have Taiwan bees so don't know how it came about?

Don't know whether to leave it in the tank or not (?) as it isn't a normal Taiwan bee so I don't know what babies it would produce when bred with Taiwan bees? I didn't BUY any shrimp with any black so it must have been bred in my tank from shrimp that were Taiwan bee in appearance???? The original shrimps were, red wine (3), red ruby (2), blue bolt (5) and blue steel (3)???? These have produced every pattern/colour of Taiwan bee I know about (except the yellow King Kong) so far, so they must have been carrying mixed genes I guess.

Simon

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Taiwan bees are not pure to begin with. So yes, they carry mixed genes and traits.

I think you are right, it's a Skunk pinto.

But Caridina Serrata doesn't seem right. Serrata is a Tiger, like the Tangerine line.

Maybe it is a hybrid mix of Serrata and Mariae.

Edited by jayc
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Thanks for the response JayC. I am leaning towards culling it as I don't know what it may produce when it breeds. I really like the 'normal' Taiwan bees mix anyway! From what you are saying I may get some other anomalies along the way (I didn't realise that) so I will keep an eye out for those in future and fish those out as well.

Thanks Again, Simon

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19 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I am leaning towards culling it

What?! No. Sell it !!

Don't know how much Taiwan bees are in the UK. But that one shrimp would be $30-$40 here.

(I haven't bought a TB in a while).

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Thanks again for all the great advise. I don't want to go down the 'selling' route (too much hassle and anyway housebound so wouldn't be able to get to Post Office), but I am still mulling over what to do and it may be a long mull. I didn't know about Pintos (had never even heard of them before) and didn't therefore realise what I consider to be 'USUAL' Taiwan bee would produce anything different. I had a thorough look in the tank and think some of the others are not 'PURE' either. In the original picture above there is a red shrimp to the left of the skunk which I had assumed was a red wine, but now I have looked around it may be half pinto and half red wine as the white in the centre section has a red break in it (see below better picture)- incidentally there are  a few that are like that, and some other odd bods. 

1905097624_DSC00204-Edited.jpg.e9631387c7b56601f5b3f53508eb0cb9.jpg

So, I now need to consider the options of where to go and that will be a tough one:-

1) As original plan, was for the Taiwan Bee 'USUAL' mix, so cull anything that doesn't look like those or has lesser colour/pattern etc. Red wine/ruby/all red/bolt, black mosura/panda/king kong, blue bolt/steel/king kong (there may be others I have forgotten).

2) Carry on as is and just keep the ones I like, whatever they may be, or look like and cull others, though I guess that will end up with goodness knows what mixture in the long run.

Which ever route I go I will continue culling 2 adults per week (least liked ones) to try and keep room for babies etc as they just keep on coming...................... I will keep reviewing this?

Thanks again for your help, I had no idea this was going to happen and just thought they would reproduce as a mixture of the parents????? My mistake, d'oh! I thought I had it all sussed but apparently not!!!!!!! Hopefully this will be the last shock/problem...........

I have read this feature of yours which has way too much info for my tiny brain to comprehend but I get the basic ideas so don't waste too much time on repeating any of this if you do reply.

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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Your black shrimp is a backline, genetically speaking it is a tangtai, ancestors were a cross between tangerine tiger and twb.

All your other shrimp should be considered as such and not as twb. Unfortunately people mix everything without knowing what they are doing and pure lines are getting very hard to come by.

Your red shrimp has just a bad red wine pattern.

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4 hours ago, anthonyd said:

Your black shrimp is a backline, genetically speaking it is a tangtai, ancestors were a cross between tangerine tiger and twb.

Ahh so it IS a Caridina Serrata afterall.

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No, tangerine,aura etc used to be serratta but they were reclassified a few years back as cantonensis.

Backline are often wrongly refered as skunk but a skunk has a different phenotype. The body of a skunk is a different colour, usually white, from the head. Basically it is a red wine or blue or black mosura with a backline only on the head.

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Wow this is getting more complicated than I ever thought. Thanks for all the advise though, it is much appreciated.

I have (for now anyway) decided to go option 2, just cull a couple of the ones I least like or have too many of a type to make room in the tank for new babies and not get over-run.

I wanted variety but wasn't expecting so many variants. Biggest problem will be picking which to get rid of each week as they are all beautiful in their own way.........

I have a blue Mosura with the brown stripe as well.

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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13 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

Biggest problem will be picking which to get rid of each week as they are all beautiful in their own way...

Uh oh, I hear the symptoms of MTS (Multi tank syndrome) nipping at your heels, Simon.

This is one of the ways it starts !! LOL 

Too many shrimp and a chicken in culling them. :happy:

 

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13 hours ago, anthonyd said:

No, tangerine,aura etc used to be serratta but they were reclassified a few years back as cantonensis.

They did? But I thought cantonensis was renamed to logemanni.

Anyway, I must admit I have stopped following the renaming of shrimp completely.

You should show Simon a picture of your tank/s. I'm sure he will like them and find new inspiration from your tanks.

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I personally wouldnt cull them, you probably didnt notice but you have some  very nice steel blue as well in your mix (first picture).

But at the end of the day, what matters is what you like. If you dont like them and another tank is not an option, sell them, you will get more for them than most shrimps.

Jay, my tanks are pretty boring, only kept 11 of the 30 is used to have, i couldnt keep up with the maintenance when i went back to college to study full time

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10 hours ago, jayc said:

Uh oh, I hear the symptoms of MTS (Multi tank syndrome) nipping at your heels, Simon.

This is one of the ways it starts !! LOL 

Too many shrimp and a chicken in culling them. :happy:

 

You are on the ball there JayC! I had considered setting up the tank (15L) that I was also considering using for a Betta! It doesn't though make much sense to set up another tank to keep shrimps I don't really want and having to maintain another tank, but I have been keeping fish/shrimp long enough that LOGIC sometimes flies out the window, but so far I have resisted setting up the other tank, not having room without moving furniture has helped there.

It is a bit weird that when I look in the tank and think 'that one can go next', but when I go to catch it I usually have second thoughts and have to really push myself!

Simon

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29 minutes ago, anthonyd said:

I personally wouldnt cull them, you probably didnt notice but you have some  very nice steel blue as well in your mix (first picture).

But at the end of the day, what matters is what you like. If you dont like them and another tank is not an option, sell them, you will get more for them than most shrimps.

Jay, my tanks are pretty boring, only kept 11 of the 30 is used to have, i couldnt keep up with the maintenance when i went back to college to study full time

Thanks for the advise. I certainly have got a variety of Taiwan Bees and am well happy - see pic.

 

It is difficult culling the shrimp, I will admit that, but I don't want the tank getting too over-run and then having a disaster. Babies just keep on coming so to make a bit of room for those I am currently taking out 2 adults each week at maintenance time, that I have too many of one kind or just don't particularly like. I will keep reviewing this process though!

It isn't practical for  me to sell shrimp (housebound) and would anyway be too much hassle for me even if I could get to the post office. Friends keep looking at my tank and saying they want to do a setup similar, but thus far common sense strikes when they get home, but in time one may do it and I can donate shrimps to them............

Simon

DSC00181 - Edited.jpg

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1 hour ago, anthonyd said:

only kept 11 of the 30 is used to have

Aww really? I remember you had some really nice high quality shrimp. Hope you kept them.

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