Hey guys, I thought I would make this thread because it appears you cannot post in the thread Loach put up in the ID section. I thought I could give you guys some more info and it gives you guys the ability to ask questions...

So I find these guys in a small rainforest creek an hour or so out of Brisbane, the creek is cool and a lot of mosses are found on the banks, the creek has a lot of leaf litter in some areas but in others the substrate is a course sand. There is an orange silt that settles in some areas and the shrimp found around here are orange coloured, they loose this colour in captivity though. I have yet to test the water parameters of the creek but I am taking a test kit next time I go and camera for a full write up.

Once I bring these guys into captivity I acclimatize them for as long as possible, at least 3 days, over the next few days I loose a lot, I guess my conditions are not optimal for them, that is why I want to find out what the parameters of the creek are like. Once they have settled down they will begin to breed, the young do not seem to have a larval stage but they are very slow growing, it took me 6 or 7 weeks to get them to 4 or 5mm. The young have a low survival rate in the first week or so but after that are hardy. Next time I try these I will be taking some of the substrate and sterilizing it. I'll have a lot off leaf litter as well and I will condition the water to match how it comes in the creek. Hopefully that will give me some luck. I hope to have some in the next few weeks, I will take photos for you all and I may sell a small group after I have had them in captivity a few weeks, after the initial period they can handle changing between my tanks that have different ph but same temperature with minimal acclimatization and no deaths, to recoup the costs of traveling there, it's a huge effort.

I have them labeled as Caridina sp. "Brisbane 1" as they have not been identified yet, the location gives people an idea of the area and the number is because there's probably more than one species around here, when I find other locations they will have another number. I will take some specimens to work with me one day or I have the email of someone I can mail some specimens if that fails.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Congratulations mate, Very nice find indeed. Am quite jealous!

Thanks, they are very cool, I am trying a spot I think may have another species this weekend, wish me luck!!

Some more photos

Well done, and thanks for Sharing the info....looking fwd to further updates and details...great job !

Hi Matt, Nice shrimp, There must be lots of shrimp in the different streams around Brisbane and the Gold coast that have not been discovered yet.It's a pitty that there are not many people that are interested in our natives out there looking. most just walk on by. Congrats on your find and keep us posted.

We should a shrimping day. Just need to make sure areas we visit are not protected. Should always test the creek water parameters to see what their natural habitat is like.

Hi Matt' date=' Nice shrimp, There must be lots of shrimp in the different streams around Brisbane and the Gold coast that have not been discovered yet.It's a pitty that there are not many people that are interested in our natives out there looking. most just walk on by. Congrats on your find and keep us posted.[/quote']

I am glad that there are less people looking, populations would be raped and they could easily disappear from the wild and no one would see them again, it has happened with many animals, even in our own country. They're not hard to find though if you know where to look, I'll be trying to find as many species as possible and to get them into the hobby, I will never give out a location though.

Hey Matt,

Are you permitted to collect where you do?

Cheers,

D

Hey Matt' date='

Are you permitted to collect where you do?

Cheers,

D[/quote']

Sure am, just got to make sure it's not within park boundaries or on private property (half of this creek is on private property, I only collect in a small part in the government area because silt washes down the creek and to the area where they take water from.

Fair enough. Was curious as you mentioned you worked with the museum with the spiders etc.

Yes, the laws in most states do very little to protect invertebrates, NT and WA have the best, although WA is OTT and you can't take anything. QLD protects some species but with a license you can take whatever you want from populations, most species still are not protected though, so you can collect anywhere that's not a park, I would like to see laws that will protect the animals but still allow me to collect some so it benefits the population and the people.

great find and great write up mate.

will be great once you get all the water parameters and then maybe a few of us can try to breed a few and see if we can get the color thing happening like in there natural environment :)

I think a fishing license should be enough to catch yourself Wild shrimp within a certain bag limit.

I don't personally agree with specialized licenses that allow certain people to profit from marketing native species as I think this actually increases the number that are taken from the wild as they become mainstream and marketed items rather than having to actually catch your own.

Far more fresh water shrimp are eaten as a staple diet from freshwater fish than are collected by human's for Aquarium use.

While some animals and natives in the Wild should be protected as their habitats and environment is in danger therefor the animal themselves are also. I don't think fresh water shrimp really fall in that group.

They change colour depending on the environment, once they have been in my tanks a while they are usually clear with a green tint with the "painted" speckles, stripes and spots. Next time I go I will take a photo of the area the orange ones are in, they sit on top of bright orange silt. They are clear to dark from around roots and leaf litter. I was hoping to go tomorrow but I won't be any where near the spot, maybe next weekend.

I think a fishing license should be enough to catch yourself Wild shrimp within a certain bag limit.

I don't personally agree with specialized licenses that allow certain people to profit from marketing native species as I think this actually increases the number that are taken from the wild as they become mainstream and marketed items rather than having to actually catch your own.

Far more fresh water shrimp are eaten as a staple diet from freshwater fish than are collected by human's for Aquarium use.

While some animals and natives in the Wild should be protected as their habitats and environment is in danger therefor the animal themselves are also. I don't think fresh water shrimp really fall in that group.

I don't think a specialized license would is a good thing either, sorry if I wasn't clear on what I meant, a fishing license with a bag limit is exactly what I think should be brought in, or something similar anyway. My aim, is to collect one last time, collect the parameters and some substrate, distribute a few a month hobbyists so if I fail others may have success. Once they are being bred in captivity no more should need to be collected.

I actually think that shrimp could do with some sort of protection, I have noticed that this species is found in only this creek, none others around it, my thinking is that the shrimp adapt to their environments and become different to surround ding areas, if they're only found in one area then a change to the habitat could wipe the, out. But as I said, that's just a thought for now, I could be completely off mark. You won't find many shrimp withing Brisbane, the gambasia and government t cementing waterways have taken care of that.

I would be in favour of more people breeding natives at home and trying to see what colours and patterns they can get rather than doing it with exotics. Affordable captive bred natives would remove the need for profiting/pilfering by rogue operators.

You could send me a few with the Leaves. I have a spare tank, filter etc :)

I don't think a specialized license would is a good thing either' date=' sorry if I wasn't clear on what I meant, a fishing license with a bag limit is exactly what I think should be brought in, or something similar anyway. My aim, is to collect one last time, collect the parameters and some substrate, distribute a few a month hobbyists so if I fail others may have success. Once they are being bred in captivity no more should need to be collected. I actually think that shrimp could do with some sort of protection, I have noticed that this species is found in only this creek, none others around it, my thinking is that the shrimp adapt to their environments and become different to surround ding areas, if they're only found in one area then a change to the habitat could wipe the, out. But as I said, that's just a thought for now, I could be completely off mark. You won't find many shrimp withing Brisbane, the gambasia and government t cementing waterways have taken care of that.[/quote']Ah I'm with you now. Just the whole threw me off a bit.I think there should def be bag limits for Wild Shrimp. I think certain area's where a certain species are found should also be protected. Also hate them f'ing Gambusia fish. Some spots I used to haul 10-15 Yabbies an hour and find heaps of Ghost Shrimp and now all I catch is Gambusia. For that the government really did screw up.Apologies for misunderstanding your post. I thought you meant special licenses that allowed only certain people to catch Wild shrimp. I think that would be very sad for the hobby.

Ooh, I understand now, sometimes when I say me, I mean it as in everyone, as in the person on the end of the law if that makes sense?? I don't like the idea of commercial licenses, it means people collect them commercially but no one collected them in small numbers.

Very interesting read, thanks for starting this thread! I guess it would be worth trying to build up a 'wild shrimp conservation network' - which means that hobbyist who already have wild Australian shrimp exchange their stock for free.

From China, I know that the worst thing menacing shrimp is the loss of their habitats, the pesticides in the agriculture and deforestation (which makes the country dry out). We know that f.e. the original habitat of caridina venusta, which was a small creek only, has disappeared as a mandarin plantation was growing and also used pesticides.

I also was told by a reputable Asian shrimp guy that one shrimp catcher joined populations from two creeks into one, as he knew that one river was already 'disappearing' and effected by agriculture. This i how the 'Camouflage Tiger Shrimp' where done.

If you ever catch shrimp in the wild, make sure to please not post GPS data in the internet, and separate shrimp from different creeks. Although they might look identical, it is very likely that you have two endemic species.

Thanks Shrimpsider, I think an Exchange net work would be a good idea, we need to start finding some more species as well.

I know what you are saying about not crossing shrimp from different locales, I was thinking a data base with the locations so they can each be labeled and we avoid unintentional crossing or one locales coming in under two names.

I am going out today to catch some shrimp, collect data and get photos, I'll have them up tonight. Wish me luck!

goodluck matt!:triumphant:

Good luck Matt! Cant wait to see some pictures.

good onya Matt! wouldn't mind joining one of youe expeditions sometime, always been a fan of our natives.

Thanks guys, I visit two creeks, about 5 minutes apart, found a new species, pictures when I've done aclimatising them.