Allanaspides hickmani - Hickman's pygmy mountain shrimp

[John.]

Had a search on here, no mentioned previously, so I thought I'd post this as it may interest some.

Has anyone heard of these before?

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=1114

They look interesting, I'm aware they're under the threatened species act but I feel a breeding program between hobbyist's could only mean good things for the species?

pygmy_mt_shrimp.pdf

[Callan]

Very interesting John and thankyou for posting this thread. It would be interesting to know about water parameters. I read in the info you supplied that they are found in peat beds. This opens up few things that come to mind straight away. Water softness, tannins and ph levels. 

Many years ago I was a member of the Avicultural Society and as a result of the hard work by members, a lot of endangered parrot and finch populations were able to be saved. I mention this because of your point about being a good thing for hobbyists. I can think of a few people straight away that are specialising in native shrimp on this forum and I'm sure would love to give these guys a go.

Do you have any further info about the regions in Tasmania that were mentioned in the pygmy shrimp PDF?

[John.]

I found pH 4-5 on another site. I'll get those sites tomorrow when I get on the pc

[lodo]

Would love if we could get a breeding program for these guys. Guess they would love cold water?

[buck]

wow they look really different to any other shrimp ive seen, they looks almost prehistoric!

[kizshrimp]

Amazing little shrimp! Yes lodo, cold water is the problem in keeping many cool-temperate aquatics and especially those from mountainous areas. I haven't checked these out but i doubt that they have any tolerance to warmer conditions. 15 degrees C is the maximum tolerance of a few Victorian fish species, I imagine highland Tasmanian shrimp would need colder. 

Having looked at the links now, the species only occurs in the World Heritage area in SW Tas. It would be a serious crime if these were to be collected, and there's basically no chance of the average hobbyist keeping them alive anyway. If a breeding program was ever to occur it would be conducted by a government agency under strict control. 

There are other species from this ancient family (right, Buck!) in Tasmania and perhaps some of these are not endangered, occur in lowland areas of northern Tasmania and would be suitable for captivity. 

Great little shrimp anyway John, I had no idea about them until today. Thanks! 

[Grubs]

Can you imagine the difficulty of maintaining a population when you're restricted to crayfish burrows?  Its crazy!  I wonder what it is about them that prevents their survival in larger ponds/streams. Just not street smart enough to survive?

Edited July 9, 2015 by Grubs

[kizshrimp]

Yeah really cool little shrimp though. What I read indicated that they do occur in the flooded grassland between the burrows too...  so I guess they would cruise around in a tank like other shrimp do. Yeah I imagine they can't compete with competition from normal aquatic species in permanent water. 

[fishmosy]

Might be predation pressure. There could be lots of eels or fish in the system if even the yabbies are hiding in burrows? 

[ura]

This shrimp belongs to the very ancient Family of Syncaridae and while this genus occurs in only Tassie there are other species that occur in other states of eastern Aust. Most are quite tiny and blind, occuring in the hyporheos (interstitial spaces of the sediment) and in groundwater.

[kizshrimp]

What else do you know about this group ura? Are there any of the larger species that are not endangered and protected? Any larger species from lowland environments?  

[ura]

No large ones as these, as far as I am aware.

[OzShrimp]

@John. Did you end up getting a chance to get that other information?

They are definitely an interesting looking shrimp, at first glance remind me of a centipede lol 

[Grubs]

Just found this - related species Mountain Shrimp (Anaspides tasmaniae) Underwater in Mole Creek Tasmania

 

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Edited November 20, 2015 by Grubs