Japanese Red Bee Shrimp Photographs

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Hi all,

I wrapped up my work early today. Hence, I setup my camera and managed to take some nice picture of my Japanese Red Bee shrimps. As such, I will like to share with everyone to cheer up your weekend. ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers.

Shrimpy Daddy

[Shrimpmaster]

Very nice. About the 3th picture, any idea why this pattern has often very nice and thick white and red? In my colonies I've also got pieces with V-band pattern who got very thick white and red. But it's very rare to find this among Mosura pattern.

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Whatever I am going to tell you, you may not believe it. LOL!!!

 

In Japan, we don't really go for pattern. We just go for colour. The Saber Tooth pattern shrimp usually will have the best and purest gene. This is due to much lesser cross-breeding and/or in-breeding. In recent years, all the gold medalists in shrimp competition are Saber Tooth pattern.

 

The PRL currently in the market are originate from JRB. The Taiwanese use the JRB to cross-breed with their shrimps to create those PRL we see today. After that they sold it to the mass market in EU and US. Hence, it is no surprise your Saber Tooth pattern shrimp still carry JRB's colouration.

 

For my that Saber Tooth patter shrimp, another affecting pattern is that she is about to breed. This is why her colour is more intensified. 

 

Ah... I remember something that I wanted to let you know but always forgotten to. When you are culling/breeding PRL, do note that those with ivory colour (not yellow but more like very pale cream colour) carries more of the original gene. The whiter it is, the more Taiwan Bee gene it has. If you keep breeding all the ivory colour shrimp together, you will get more red legs than white legs shrimp.

[sushant]

This might sound simply question but I'm confused: aren't these crystal red bees, and crs doesn't have Taiwanese origin???

[Shrimpmaster]

I can follow your whole post, except the Taiwan Bee part. Just like Sushant I'm confused. I know that they mix up TWB in Pure Black Line. That's why I saw one King Kong arount 300 PBL shrimp of someone I visit. But with PBL you can clearly see a blue shade when it has TWB genes. But with PRL, there is also TWB genes in it? I never knew that. Could you please elaborate how you know this and if there is any way to prove this? If true, then there should pop up some TWB just like in the PBL group happened some day, right?

Edited December 12, 2014 by Shrimpmaster

[newbreed]

This is fascinating and very helpful information!! Thank you, it will aid in enhancing PRL in Australia!

 

We have assumed there was some TWB in PRL lines here due to the intensity of the red colour mainly and some of the markings, or at least this is my assumption.

 

Loving these insights!!

[Shrimpy Daddy]

I can follow your whole post, except the Taiwan Bee part. Just like Sushant I'm confused. I know that they mix up TWB in Pure Black Line. That's why I saw one King Kong arount 300 PBL shrimp of someone I visit. But with PBL you can clearly see a blue shade when it has TWB genes. But with PRL, there is also TWB genes in it? I never knew that. Could you please elaborate how you know this and if there is any way to prove this? If true, then there should pop up some TWB just like in the PBL group happened some day, right?

 

Imagine this way. If someone bought 5 to 10 JRB/PRL and wanted to reproduce quickly to hundreds, the only way will be breeding them quickly with CRS. However, the more they breed with CRS, the colour and pattern will either remain the same or get worse. The only way to fix this will be breeding with other variant. From what I know people have been doing this:

• To get darker read and maybe red legs (different type of red legs, can be identify easily), they breed with Wine Red.
• To get clean white and white legs, they breed with Snow White that has blue-base gene (Taiwan Bee Snow White, not albino Snow White). However nowadays, those home breeder just use any sort of Snow White/Golden Been to breed out the white area. Therefore, PRL started to have yellowish white area instead of ivory. 

Does your PRL once in awhile give birth to neither PRL nor CRS off-spring? One of the common symptom to prove this is that high grade PRL will give birth to Snow White quite frequently, unless they have stable gene.

[Shrimpy Daddy]

This is fascinating and very helpful information!! Thank you, it will aid in enhancing PRL in Australia!

 

We have assumed there was some TWB in PRL lines here due to the intensity of the red colour mainly and some of the markings, or at least this is my assumption.

 

Loving these insights!!

 

You are welcome.

 

PRL gene is a mess right now and it is a risky business to buy them. I always encourage people try not to go into PRL if they are not familiar with it. Many unscrupulous seller will take a $10 CRS that looks like PRL pattern (usually is the rejected offspring from PRL breeding) and sell it is $50 PRL.

 

For example, one of my America friend came to HK a year back, to buy a bunch of PRL. When he show them to me and he discovered that actually they are higher quality CRS instead of PRL, and he end up so sad. Now he is in Osaka trying to buy JRB back instead of PRL.

 

The good thing is ShrimpMaster has a thread to explain the colour and pattern. This will help people to identify it further. ^^

[Squiggle]

Fantastic thread dude & stunning pics, definitely helps give us insights into PRL & JRB, well done!

[Shrimpmaster]

Thanks Shrimpy Daddy for the explanation. Now I understand what you were talking about. Indeed a lot people messing up nice pure lines for profit. That's also why I take a lot of time to find a good PRL. I know the breeder and I trust him. According to him he never ever had a snow white offspring (among estimated 1000+ offspring). For me, with about 100 plus offspring, also never saw something else than PRL. So you could say this line is 'clean' from other genes.
 

The good thing is ShrimpMaster has a thread to explain the colour and pattern. This will help people to identify it further. ^^

 

Yes indeed, I will do my best to show as much details as I can photograph. Maybe this helps to indentify them easier .

 

Sorry to go a little offtopic, but I believe this was a nice side path, thanks again for the info!

 

Back on topic: please post some more JRB pictures!

[Shrimpy Daddy]

So you could say this line is 'clean' from other genes.

 

It is more of your breeder has done a good job on stablising the gene. ;) I guess he must had used a year or so to do it.

 

Many breeder breed the shrimp half way and started to sell them. This will give you weird looking offspring.

 

Like we both mentioned in another forum before, it is safest to buy shrimp from breeder who never claim about the bloodline name of shrimp. If anyone claims any brand of bloodline, it means the shrimp must be bad. LOL!!!

 

No worries about OOT. It is good that we are able to provide useful information to people.

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Good evening, everyone!!!

 

I was enjoying a pretty relaxed weekend. Hence, I decided to snap a few more photos of my JRB and would like to share with everyone. Hope you will enjoy looking at them. ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers.

Shrimpy Daddy

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Just in case anyone would like to know about how these photos were taken, below are the list of my gears, setup and configuration.

Equipment List

• Camera: Fujifilm X-T1
• Lens: Carl Zeiss Touit 2.8/50M
• Tripod/ Ballhead: Gitzo Traveler Series 1 6x Carbon tripod and Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead
• Remote Shutter Release: None. Using camera built-in shutter release.
• Flash Light: 2 x Fujifilm EF-42 Flashlight
• Remote Flash Release: 2 x wireless flash release receiver and 1 x wireless flash transmitter
• Flash Clamp: 2 x Manfrotto clamp + Joby Flash clamp combo

Equipment Configuration

• Camera/ Lens:
  • ISO: 200
  • Shutter Speed: 1/125s
  • Aperture: F3.6 to 5.0
• Flash:
  • Power: 1/32
  • Diffuser: Double diffuser (built in diffuser and small bounce diffuser). This will minimise hotspot and light piercing through the shell of shrimp.

Equipment Setup

• Camera Placement: 50 to 70cm from camera sensor to subject (to achieve DoF that could cover half to whole shrimp)
• Flash Placement:

 

 

 

 

Have a nice weekend. ^^

Shrimpy Daddy

Edited December 14, 2014 by Shrimpy Daddy

[Squiggle]

Wow dude, that's a pretty sweet setup. I love the flash mount, very nice!

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Wow dude, that's a pretty sweet setup. I love the flash mount, very nice!

 

Thanks. ^^

[newbreed]

Oh my CRS look so basic now!! Thanks for the information and inspiration guys!

These are a strain to aim for!!

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Oh my CRS look so basic now!! Thanks for the information and inspiration guys!

These are a strain to aim for!!

 

No worries, mate. If you come to HK in the future, I will give you a couple of them to bring back to AU. ^^

[linus84]

Rly nice shrimps and awsome pic catch

[Guest]

Very nice. About the 3th picture, any idea why this pattern has often very nice and thick white and red? In my colonies I've also got pieces with V-band pattern who got very thick white and red. But it's very rare to find this among Mosura pattern.

I've also noticed this among my PRL. I've been a huge PRL fan for so long now and on many occasions when opportunity arise and funds are plentiful, I would find myself picking up a couple of PRL to add to my collection. A few things I've noticed with the PRL as of late..

1. My first generation of PRL (the oldest purchased PRL) demonstrated the BEST colors. Coincidentally, the typically Tiger Tooth or Saber Tooth (as Shrimpy Daddy has put it) has always ranked highest in terms of coloration when compared to the SSS Grades (speaking matter of factly in terms of the "OLD" grading systems based on patterns ranging from C - SSS Mosura).

2. As the PRL crazed continue to grow and become more widely available (speaking in terms of availability in NA as we are usually 2-3 years behind on all shrimping related trends) the once signature Tiger Tooth/Saber Tooth patterns have given way to the more SSS grades (almost all white with only the red heads) patterns. I found that amongst these contains the most unstable and "ugly" colors. It's at these grades that I begin to see the "yellow" and "pinkish-red" colors.

Conclusion: I do believe that the best "PRL" ranging in the lower pattern grades S-SS (No-Entry - Tiger's Tooth/Saber Tooth patterns). I feel like the way most breeders of these high grades PRL are doing somesort of genetic mixing (what mixing and combination, I do not know) but it has brought forth a lot of genetic instability tainting in the once good PRL name. As such, I don't even bother with the fancy (and often heavily marketed and advertised) SSS Grade PRL with the red head and complete white bodies and white legs. I found that 90% of the time they look grade in pictures but are lacklustre in person.

You are welcome.

PRL gene is a mess right now and it is a risky business to buy them. I always encourage people try not to go into PRL if they are not familiar with it. Many unscrupulous seller will take a $10 CRS that looks like PRL pattern (usually is the rejected offspring from PRL breeding) and sell it is $50 PRL.

For example, one of my America friend came to HK a year back, to buy a bunch of PRL. When he show them to me and he discovered that actually they are higher quality CRS instead of PRL, and he end up so sad. Now he is in Osaka trying to buy JRB back instead of PRL.

The good thing is ShrimpMaster has a thread to explain the colour and pattern. This will help people to identify it further. ^^

I just want to add that the JRB and JBB (Japanese Black Bees or should it be Japanese Black Line?) all arrived safely and is currently undergoing the acclimating process. I'll be able to add them to my tanks in a few hours.

And yes, the "PRL" I purchased from HK a year ago are terrible (similar to the SSS PRL I bought from a local importer a few months ago) and have been kept separated inside their own breeder box. I found the pinkish - yellow color really ugly and so I've made little effort to continue working on them.

Id like to add some iPhone pictures of the JRB I hand selected while in Japan.

Also, while I was in Japan I noticed that of the 4 top tier JRB tanks (prices ranging from ¥30000-50000) 3 of said tanks consisted of all Red Legged JRB with patterns ranging from Hino No-Entry - Tiger's Tooth/Saber Tooth.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

 

Winners I hand picked:

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I know these pictures can look subjective as it's not a macro photography and iphone photos don't say much, but I do plan on getting a few pictures of these guys with my X-T1 + Macro lens when they acclimate and color up.

Edited December 15, 2014 by ShrimpFan

[Shrimpy Daddy]

I just want to add that the JRB and JBB (Japanese Black Bees or should it be Japanese Black Line?) all arrived safely and is currently undergoing the acclimating process.  I'll be able to add them to my tanks in a few hours.

 

And yes, the "PRL" I purchased from HK a year ago are terrible (similar to the SSS PRL I bought from a local importer a few months ago) and have been kept separated inside their own breeder box.  I found the pinkish - yellow color really ugly and so I've made little effort to continue working on them.  

 

Congratulation!!! Now you own some of the real JRB!!! After they had the first moult (within 2 weeks), you should share some of your JRB picture here too. ;)

 

I saw the picture you posted on another forum, it looks like a grade higher than mine. ^^ Not sure are those you bought. Or those are the $1,000 each grade.

[newbreed]

No worries, mate. If you come to HK in the future, I will give you a couple of them to bring back to AU. ^^

 

Oh!! Wish I was that brave to try to bring them back! But will have to leave them with you!!!

 

Will let you know if I am in Hong Kong, may have to visit to see these stunners for real though!

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the strict custom regulation.

[Guest]

I know right?  I'm super excited that all of them made it back in good health.  It'll still be 2 weeks before i'm in the clear but I'm optimistic, of course, they're going inside my tanks utilizing your mineralizers so I think they'll have a good chance at surviving this transition.  I think in two weeks i'll be good to set up some photos to share with everyone, and i'm hoping they look great by then.  

 

"it looks like a grade higher than mine." - Hahaha, maybe since I had the advantage of being in Japan and being able to hand pick my shrimps.  I think I might have paid more than what you paid.  Regardless, I'm hoping these guys satisfy my hunger for the perfect JRB.  

 

"Or those are the $1,000 each grade." - Maybe not $1000 grade but a few would add up to being around there, 

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Haha!!! No. It is you paid for a higher price one. We will know after the first moult. ;)

I saw that you bought a berried one. Is this correct?

[Shrimpmaster]

Really nice shrimp ShrimpFan!

Although iPhone pictures can't handle contrast optimal and so they look extreme white and red, I can see they are very good. Hope you can shoot some macro pictures too, looking forward to them.

 

Agree with you and ShrimpyDaddy, the colors of No-Entry and V-band, Tiger-Tooth seems to be much better that Mosura. So if you have a very nice Mosura, you can be sure it's very rare. So I still like them, but to reach top quality with Mosura it's just much harder.