# Odd 'Amano' shrimp?



## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

This shrimp was mixed in with some Amanos that I got the other day.












About the same size as a medium-large Amano but doesn't have the normal coloration/stripe down the back. Rather a slate grey color with more of lizard or snakeskin-like patterning that I've not see before.

Any ideas what it is?


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I picked up several shrimp from Petco that were being sold as amanos. They are 1 lesser/short nosed shrimp (looks like a ghost shrimp - but not) and several Malaya/Malayan shrimp. The Malaya females are larger than male amanos but smaller than female amanos. They kind of look like amanos, but more colorful.

Malayas can vary greatly in coloration, so I can't say that you do have a Malaya, but I also can't say you don't.


Do you have any pictures of the rest of the shrimp you picked up with her?


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> I picked up several shrimp from Petco that were being sold as amanos. They are 1 lesser/short nosed shrimp (looks like a ghost shrimp - but not) and several Malaya/Malayan shrimp. The Malaya females are larger than male amanos but smaller than female amanos. They kind of look like amanos, but more colorful.
> 
> Malayas can vary greatly in coloration, so I can't say that you do have a Malaya, but I also can't say you don't.
> 
> ...



I don't but I could try to take some I guess. They're nothing special though. Look like regular old standard Amanos. I have lots of them in various tanks so I'm familiar with them. That one's the only oddball in the bunch. Shell is as described above. I couldn't get a good shot of if from above but if you've ever seen a spiny lizard, it kind of reminds me of that. e.g., something like this:










Shell is more opaque with a definite darker/lighter banded pattern to it. Doesn't seem quite as manically active as the Amanos. Maybe a little more full-bodied up front.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Here's two of the more colorful shrimp I picked up for comparison....


Female











Male











More info about them here

Petshrimp.com -- All about shrimp

https://www.aquariumdomain.com/adSocial/index.php/malaya-shrimp/

Malaya Shrimp



Only other species I could think of would be a Ninja Shrimp aka Rainbow Shrimp. (which the Malayas also kind of fall into the 'Rainbow shrimp' category)


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> Here's two of the more colorful shrimp I picked up for comparison....



Thanks. That's probably it. If the pattern along the back in the first pic was a little more distinct, then that's close enough to be a color variation of the same.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Would love to see some more pictures of her if you get any! I've got mine on playsand, so it's light in color, but I'm curious what they would look like on black sand, too.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> Would love to see some more pictures of her if you get any! I've got mine on playsand, so it's light in color, but I'm curious what they would look like on black sand, too.


Will do. May be a little while. They're kind of in a holding pen until I get a new tank set up. That red Eco-Complete where they are is fugly. Don't like it at all. The new will be Black Diamond sand so should answer that. Using an existing filter so should cycle pretty quickly but still waiting for a stand and other stuff to come in before I can set it up.

Intended to go back today to see if they had any others but didn't make it by. Now that I know what they are and that they breed in freshwater, I'm interested in getting some more.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I've got 3 berried females at the moment, I expect the eggs to start hatching in 2-3 weeks? Very interested in seeing the entire process!

Only thing we can get locally in good supply tends to be ghost shrimp, amanos, cherry shrimp and sometimes whisker shrimp. Some of the stores do occasionally bring in others, but it's hit or miss or really just random and usually expensive. When I found these guys, it was 2 different species being sold as amanos!


I also have Black Diamond although I'm not sure yet that I want to switch it out... or could potentially move them to another tank. The other tank I would move them to has amanos in it... and I don't want to mix them with amanos... lol

Scratch that... eggs are already hatching! :surprise:


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Oh, nice!

There's probably some sort of market for those, especially if you decide to selectively breed for darker colors and more intense patterns. They're cool shrimp, I know I'd like some in my next tank. The downside of amanos is their lack of color and inability to breed in freshwater. These have both covered!


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> Scratch that... eggs are already hatching! :surprise:
> 
> 
> View attachment 865329



Very cool!

Calling dibs in advance if you want to let some go. lol


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Betta132 said:


> Oh, nice!
> 
> There's probably some sort of market for those, especially if you decide to selectively breed for darker colors and more intense patterns. They're cool shrimp, I know I'd like some in my next tank. The downside of amanos is their lack of color and inability to breed in freshwater. These have both covered!


These aren't amanos though... amanos breed in freshwater, but offspring don't survive in freshwater. Here's a female amano and one of her offspring for comparison.











The malaya shrimp breed purely in freshwater, requiring no brackish or saltwater for the offspring to grow into adults. There are also darker versions of various colors... and they can potentially even change color. (we'll see soon enough)






Mike A. said:


> Very cool!
> 
> Calling dibs in advance if you want to let some go. lol


If I'm brave enough to ship them, I'll consider it! :grin2: LOL


Interestingly enough, just realized we've got another berried female in another species with a larval stage, opae ula! Didn't expect to see a berried female until maybe next year. :surprise:


You need some more of these shrimp! Definitely liking that female you picked up!


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> You need some more of these shrimp! Definitely liking that female you picked up!



Went by last night but the place that I got them from didn't have any more. Based on your lead, stopped by a Petco and found one that looked a little different from the rest with some similar pattern on its back. Can't find it in the tank now. I'll get a pic at some point once I can. See what you think. That explains why the Petco here has two separate tags on the tank with the Amanos in it. They appear to sell these as "Algae Eater Shrimp." Different SKU with a tag picture that looks more like these.

The first that I got is a strange shrimp. Thought that it was a goner several times but then I go look later and it's OK. *shrug* Changed color from the grey above to a silver-bluish color last night to being more brown today (bonus puffer photobomb).


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

One I picked up was also blue as well... but she didn't remain blue... would have been amazing if she had! The "algae eating shrimp" were/are generally speaking amanos. They differed from the amano sku simply due to size... i.e. small amanos were "algae eating shrimp" and large amanos were, well, amanos. The image for the "algae eating shrimp" however was just a very low grade/quality crystal black shrimp. The local Petco's here have removed the "algae eating shrimp" label, though.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Guess these guys are infiltrating the Petco's.... the store I originally found them at re-stocked them. (still being sold as amanos...) None of them wanted to be in the water... most of them were on top of a floating log... Maybe only two were actually beneath the water? (fish issue...)

Checked out two other stores. Only one had a new shipment, and I don't know if that shipment included a mix of amanos and malayas, or what. Either way, they had both. The last store just had amanos and ghosts mixed together.


Seems they get particularly blue when stressed. Had to pick up a few more and they turned *really* blue in transit. 24 hours later, one was still slightly blue. Not seeing any blue like that now. Tons of babies floating around now, haven't seen any morphed yet.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> Guess these guys are infiltrating the Petco's.... the store I originally found them at re-stocked them. (still being sold as amanos...) None of them wanted to be in the water... most of them were on top of a floating log... Maybe only two were actually beneath the water? (fish issue...)
> 
> Checked out two other stores. Only one had a new shipment, and I don't know if that shipment included a mix of amanos and malayas, or what. Either way, they had both. The last store just had amanos and ghosts mixed together.
> 
> Seems they get particularly blue when stressed. Had to pick up a few more and they turned *really* blue in transit. 24 hours later, one was still slightly blue. Not seeing any blue like that now. Tons of babies floating around now, haven't seen any morphed yet.



This is the one that I got the other day. 












Tried to get some more tonight. Ended up with only 1 and 2 Amanos. The Petco guy couldn't work the net and was getting frustrated trying to get specific shrimp. lol Tried to take over but he wouldn't let me do it. That's OK, I needed more Amanos anyway...


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

They are typus


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

ytl99 said:


> They are typus



From what I can tell, typus are not patterned nor do they have "stripes".


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

They do display in at least 2 forms, one is cross at back rostrum to tail, another form with broken cross which display like arrow at the back, as this shrimp distribute widely, the look is abut difference

Bump:


Zoidburg said:


> Here's two of the more colorful shrimp I picked up for comparison....
> 
> 
> Female
> ...


Most of the Caridina multidentata supply is wild caught from Taiwan, Caridina Typus which is native there sometime mix inside supply, do check the Caridina typus look from Taiwan

????: ???


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

As the days have worn on, I've become less and less convinced that these are in fact Malayans. I'm not convinced they are typus, either.


I've asked two others who are essentially "gurus" in the aspect of shrimp species. It's split now between Caridina formosae and Caridina villadolidi... which I'm not convinced that these shrimp belong to either, but supposedly C. villadolidi are being sold as amanos.


I thought amanos were breeding machines, but I think these guys take the cake... and I still don't know how they are supposed to be raised. Have now stuck a ton into saltwater tank. Unsure of parameters, but salt should be around 35 ppt? Whatever they are, they seem to like the algae growing on the walls. They appear *much* smaller now (not sure how that's even possible...) and harder to find on the glass. I'll be surprised if I can get any to survive, since I've had no luck with amanos, either... lol


Only thing I know for sure is that they most closely resemble mayala shrimp in patterns, but still appear "off". That, and waiting for one of the "gurus" to post pictures of various shrimp which is supposed to include whatever species these guys are.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I have some which I bought as 'amano shrimp' but I was later told on here they're actually malayas- they change colors- sometimes gray or orange or even reddish- but they all consistently have a broad stripe down the back with a cross near the tail. Yours look very different, so I'd agree probably not malayas. I think they're pretty cool, though with that mottled pattern. I wish I could find some like that.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

JJ09 said:


> I have some which I bought as 'amano shrimp' but I was later told on here they're actually malayas- they change colors- sometimes gray or orange or even reddish- but they all consistently have a broad stripe down the back with a cross near the tail. Yours look very different, so I'd agree probably not malayas. I think they're pretty cool, though with that mottled pattern. I wish I could find some like that.


Try Petco? There's 3 in my area and I've found them now at 2 locations...



This new album includes pictures of C. villadolidi which one person thinks it is, but it still does not seem to be a correct match.

https://www.facebook.com/chris.lukhaup/posts/10155908551973198


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

As amano supply mostly from Taiwan, some native shrimps from Taiwan may mix inside amano supply, do check on this page about typus in Taiwan for their photo :

????: ???

The larvae of malaysia typus like to stick on wall and not really attract to light as Amano Larvae, as you have seen their larvae you may check whether hv this characters.

I only have littles success in breeding typus, I would say they are more difficult than Amani and Caridina malaya/rainbow(Not Malaya shrimp)

Attached malaysia typus photo

My typus photos

Bump: Taiwan typus photos ( the last 2)

Bump:


JJ09 said:


> I have some which I bought as 'amano shrimp' but I was later told on here they're actually malayas- they change colors- sometimes gray or orange or even reddish- but they all consistently have a broad stripe down the back with a cross near the tail. Yours look very different, so I'd agree probably not malayas. I think they're pretty cool, though with that mottled pattern. I wish I could find some like that.


For your reference on Caridina Malaya/rainbow


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I suppose whatever Mike and I have will remain unknown for now... What I have does appear similar to the Taiwan typus, but still not quite right.


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## msxray07 (Jun 21, 2018)

It's a very cool looking shrimp. And it's interesting that it changes color. I currently have only one red cherry and one amano in my 20 gallon tank. I want to get more but they are difficult to get my hands on here both from the Petco and another local fish store. Their shrimp stock is always hit or miss. And my Petsmart is currently remodeling their entire tank setup and have absolutely no aquatic life of any kind at the moment. I might take a drive this afternoon to the next town over and check out the Petco there.

Speaking of getting more, if I ever find them, how many do you think I should add? Currently I have the two shrimp, two cory cats, 2 nerite snails, 6 green tiger barbs, 2 platys.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Zoidburg said:


> Try Petco? There's 3 in my area and I've found them now at 2 locations...


There's Petco near me, too. Usually they have cherries, or actual amanos (they call them 'algae-eater japanese shrimp'). Only once did they have these I bought which I've been told are really malayas. 

Yes, my malayas look like those third and 4th pics by @ytl99


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> I suppose whatever Mike and I have will remain unknown for now... What I have does appear similar to the Taiwan typus, but still not quite right.


I esperienced in 2 types of Caridina typus, their larvae like to stay on wall and not really attract to light and smaller than Amano Larvae, their larvae harder to grow up also probably I haven’t get the right way.

Amano Larvae grow super fast, my fastest record is 13 days morph to post larvae as temperature at noon is more than 30c.



JJ09 said:


> There's Petco near me, too. Usually they have cherries, or actual amanos (they call them 'algae-eater japanese shrimp'). Only once did they have these I bought which I've been told are really malayas.
> 
> Yes, my malayas look like those third and 4th pics by @ytl99


Caridina Malaya/rainbow I low order shrimp, need about 15 days to morph to post larvae. When we google Malaya shrimp the available info in web is it breed in freshwater and larvae morph to miniature in 2-3 days. I personally tested our local Caridina Malayensis, their egg size is consider big egg type which is smaller than cherry’s egg. Caridina Malayensis take 4-5 days to miniature shrimp, probably the Malaya shrimp is referring to this type but surprisingly the photos given are either Caridina Malayan/rainbow or Caridina Babaulti.

As there is limited info in Caridina Malaya/Rainbow, when I started breeding it, base on the information available, first I try brackish as noted the eggs is very small, then try freshwater after reading in web, it is unlikely for the larvae to grow from 1.5mm to 4mm within 2-3 days, the misleading info wasted lot of time in breeding this, it took me 6 months to get the right salinity level and finally manage to breed it.

Your supply of Caridina Malaya/rainbow probably from Indonesia or India.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Here's a few pics of mine:
















I only have four, and I've never seen any of them berried, so I don't think I have any females.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

After 1 week, have not seen any morph into miniature adults... the stripes are not solid. Eggs are tiny like amano, not big. I've seen some shrimp labeled as malaya and have large eggs, others with small eggs. I'm not sure at this point... the larvae or zoe are attracted to the light, more so if using a torch or flashlight of some sort over the light from the lid.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Whatever these things are I got a few more tonight. One of which is kind of interesting with a red/salmon pink coloring. 












Actually more red/pink than that pic looks but best I could get in the specimen container. I'll try to get a better one once it's moved in.


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> I suppose whatever Mike and I have will remain unknown for now... What I have does appear similar to the Taiwan typus, but still not quite right.


At the moment, discovered 3 types of typus in Taiwan, two with black line of both side if view from top

Bump:


JJ09 said:


> Here's a few pics of mine:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Both are female, male is clear as amano and much more smaller, max 2cm

Bump:


Zoidburg said:


> After 1 week, have not seen any morph into miniature adults... the stripes are not solid. Eggs are tiny like amano, not big. I've seen some shrimp labeled as malaya and have large eggs, others with small eggs. I'm not sure at this point... the larvae or zoe are attracted to the light, more so if using a torch or flashlight of some sort over the light from the lid.


They attract to light but the respond is much more slower than Amano Larvae, if you have Amano Larvae photo you can find Amano Larvae is slimmer and bigger than this


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

Another photo of typus found in Taiwan 

https://www.facebook.com/ifishbooks...831.1064263593604633/1118538041510521/?type=3

The rostrum of typus is very short and pointing downward. Typus name come from typical Caridina, many of them still undescribe.



Zoidburg said:


> After 1 week, have not seen any morph into miniature adults... the stripes are not solid. Eggs are tiny like amano, not big. I've seen some shrimp labeled as malaya and have large eggs, others with small eggs. I'm not sure at this point... the larvae or zoe are attracted to the light, more so if using a torch or flashlight of some sort over the light from the lid.


Typus need about 20 days to frow to post larvae, Those large eggs type is probably Caridina Malayensis which can breed in pure freshwater, born in larvae type but size is about 3mm will transform to miniature in few days time, they do change color also but is not as nice as Caridina Malaya/rainbow, their size also smaller which is less than 25mm. Sometime it’s label as color shrimp.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

The zoe I moved to saltwater are still alive 36 hours later. More have hatched out in freshwater. Rostrum of one of the "lesser colored" shrimps... no defined markings as showing in previous pictures, but very spotty all over.












This one however appears to have a longer one...


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## ytl99 (Jul 24, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> The zoe I moved to saltwater are still alive 36 hours later. More have hatched out in freshwater. Rostrum of one of the "lesser colored" shrimps... no defined markings as showing in previous pictures, but very spotty all over.
> 
> 
> View attachment 865993
> ...


Both appear to be not the same species, I do not have great success in breeding of both types os typus I having now.

My Yamato larvae as shown in the video, reads to morph in the next 3 days

https://www.facebook.com/724853872/posts/10155662398288873/


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

5-6 days later, the zoes that were in freshwater have all but died off for the most part.... the zoes in saltwater 6-7 days, are still alive and growing. I have no clue how many I transferred over, nor how many are currently in the tank, but it appears to be a lot more than what's in the freshwater tank. The day after I had moved a bunch over, there was another hatching of zoes in the freshwater tank...


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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

Mike A. said:


> This is the one that I got the other day.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Haha, reminds me of my PetSuppliesPlus, the girl did not know how to net Otos, so I ended up taking over.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Raith said:


> Haha, reminds me of my PetSuppliesPlus, the girl did not know how to net Otos, so I ended up taking over.


The guy who I usually try to deal with there is great. Sharp guy who really knows his stuff. Has marine and planted tanks himself. No idea what he's doing working at Petco. He'll let me do whatever. 

But the other guy who's there when he's off is the complete opposite. Stereotypical Petco employee. Went by Tuesday night to see what they got in. Surprise! Some nice cherry shrimp! Which is very rare in their stores around here. Finally got all of those netted up and grabbed and a few nerites... then he dropped both bags when he was walking back over to write up the SKUs. :surprise: /facepalm lol 

Left with nothing...

He's not all bad though since he'll often sell me the Amanos as ghost shrimp. ; )


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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

Mike A. said:


> The guy who I usually try to deal with there is great. Sharp guy who really knows his stuff. Has marine and planted tanks himself. No idea what he's doing working at Petco. He'll let me do whatever.
> 
> But the other guy who's there when he's off is the complete opposite. Stereotypical Petco employee. Went by Tuesday night to see what they got in. Surprise! Some nice cherry shrimp! Which is very rare in their stores around here. Finally got all of those netted up and grabbed and a few nerites... then he dropped both bags when he was walking back over to write up the SKUs. :surprise: /facepalm lol
> 
> ...


 Until one day, you discover they are actually ghost shrimps. o_o


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Raith said:


> Until one day, you discover they are actually ghost shrimps. o_o


Naaaa... not happening. I'm still not sure exactly what the shrimp in this thread are but I clearly know Amanos from ghost shrimp. For $0.49 each I'm happy to let him call them whatever he wants.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

No luck keeping the offspring alive... so far... but the grow-out tank has been growing more algae at least...

My females have remained "clear", but there are some that are more "colorful" than the others. Couple more current images of my girls



















Swung by Petco again... haven't seen these shrimp for sale in a while and they had at least 4? Grabbed 3. These guys are pretty small right now and I tossed them in a separate tank with dark substrate to see what happens. Also two male amanos in that tank... 











Someone else also picked some of these up during the summer from another Petco. Their two females turned brown. They thought these were amanos but the "clear" version of the females (before coloring up) look a lot like these mystery shrimp. Fully colored up, they are browner than any of the pictures shown here thus far. Completely brown!


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Haven't seen any around here lately.

A couple of mine turned brown too. Not a completely opaque brown like some pictured earlier but a distinct brown coloring to them. 

Best I could do where it is in the tank now but you can get an idea of the coloring at least.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Went by Petco tonight and they have a new tag on the tank where they usually have these:












They had one separated in a plastic breeding tank floating inside with the same SKU written on it but it and all of the rest in the tank looked to be just standard Amanos.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

That's odd... but I bet it's probably for the more colorful shrimp.... blue, orange, yellow, rili type Neos probably?

I did stop by a couple of pet stores tonight, but neither one were Petco...

Starting to wonder though if the berried female I have is ever going to drop her eggs! LOL I've found one or two babies floating around, but not a whole group... even nearly drained the entire tank, leaving shrimp in tank, then moved the tank at night (it was kind of cold... 30's or 40's maybe?) about 6 miles, then refilled the tank. That was at least 2 or 3 weeks ago... and she had been berried prior to moving the tank...



Mike, may I share the photos you have taken? I'm going to try and gather various pictures of these shrimp up and see if we can get any more ideas on what they might be.


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## Mike A. (Jan 6, 2018)

Zoidburg said:


> That's odd... but I bet it's probably for the more colorful shrimp.... blue, orange, yellow, rili type Neos probably?
> 
> I did stop by a couple of pet stores tonight, but neither one were Petco...
> 
> ...



Sure, help yourself. Whatever info will be appreciated.

They never have any fancy shrimp like that at the stores around here. Cherry are about the only thing that they ever get in and those are a different SKU and kept in a separate tank with the ghost shrimp. Kid working the department was clueless. Said they just got them in today. Asked him how he could tell which were which vs the Amanos and he just shrugged. lol I looked at them for a while and didn't see anything that didn't look like an Amano to me. None had the patterning on the shell that I've seen with the others that I've picked up.

Some of the "rainbow shrimp" turned up in a search do look like some of those in pics here. If they're twice the price, then there better be some clear and obvious difference; otherwise, they're all going to be Amanos when I go to buy them. ; )


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## CapnFailBoat (Oct 27, 2017)

Zoidburg pointed me in the direction of this thread when he found out I got some caridina villadolidi. 
I have some of these Petco "amano" as well. Those are mostly a rusty red to transparent appearance and seem to be about half the size of the amano I've gotten from my lfs.

Pictures shown are of shrimp that are all supposed to be caridina villadolidi.


Yes I see the hydras on the powerhead, tank is undergoing treatment now.


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## CapnFailBoat (Oct 27, 2017)

Red C. Villiadolidi finally came out and posed in front of the tank.

All of these came from a single order from Aquatic Arts
https://aquaticarts.com/collections/freshwater-shrimp/products/gold-nebula-shrimp


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Thank you for the pictures! For me, at least, it confirms my suspicions in that whatever these shrimp are, they are not C Villiadolidi.


Regardless of whatever color these Caridina are, they have a very specific set of spots on them, like amanos. If the shrimp turn brown (I have yet to have any of mine turn brown...) then those spots may disappear - but they were there before the shrimp changed color.


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## CapnFailBoat (Oct 27, 2017)

Hope this is considered necro-ing at this point, but Aquatic arts is selling shrimp called "Caridina Serratirostris" that look pretty similar to the petco shrimp I've gotten locally.

https://aquaticarts.com/products/ninja-shrimp?variant=19487460917334 

The only real difference I'm seeing is that the nose (Rostrum?) has a much more serrated and prominent look than the shrimp I have.


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