# What is the white line on my RCS back



## Pakman (Nov 30, 2013)

I have an RCS that has a white line running down its back, it not a saddle as it goes from front to back.. Any ideas? 

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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Oh No!!! Plague!!!!


:hihi: Just kidding. This line is genetic and sometimes shows up in older shrimp as well. Usually females. Nothing to worry about.

In fact, neon yellows were bred FOR this trait.


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## Phantomic (Apr 17, 2013)

Those are just genetics. Many of my cherries have the same white strip.


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## Pakman (Nov 30, 2013)

Should I paint a number on the side like a race car;-) 

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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Only if you have the track for them to race around.


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## AnionAndCation (Nov 6, 2013)

That white line is quite common with neos, it's nothing wrong, just genetics. If they arn't your favorite you can alternatively start selective breeding them to not have that stripe, and the simplest form of selective breeding is just taking out the ones that you don't want periodically.


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## 52149 (Feb 26, 2012)

Yes genetics! But it's a usual indication of comfort or happiness. We usually call it the happy band. I notice it when all my parameters are in line. I tried it on several different shrimp from the same strain. My pfr I put a set in a 10 gallon all parameters in line with a full setup. I put another batch in a pond in the shade and I got different results. I came to the conclusion that when the shrimp is in a comfortable and happy environment that the white band shows up. When just thrown into any old environment they either turn transparent and lose the bands or stay a solid or pattern color.


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## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

I heard that the white band is based on genetics and that females with that white band will produce a mix of low grade and higher grade RCS. Somewhere on the forum, a breeder stated that they pretty much select out those cherries because they are not true-breeding (aka, a high grade RCS with the white strip will not always produce high grade offspring even when controlling for the grade of the male RCS).


EDIT: Whoops, I actually read it on another forum: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/foru...-Grading-system-of-Cherry-to-Fire-Red-Shrimps



> Came across some strange discussions during my search that there were 2 kinds of Fire Reds; Sakura Fire Reds and Taiwan Fire Reds.
> The claim was that Sakura FR were darker red, had a pale stripe running down the back and the offsprings had very poor percentage of coming out Fire Red.
> Taiwan FR on the other hand, were more bright red, is completely homogenous in color (no stripe) and only about 10% of the offsprings needed to be culled.


Note that this grading system is not an official grading system, but is something that the OP came up with based on his/her experience.


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