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They seem to have a pattern in the tail. What are the black flecks on the shrimp post preservation?
If you've read this thread, you would have learnt that CRS Haven is currently stocking a species of shrimp labelled as the "wild white cherry", apparently from a Taiwanese supplier. Draka bought a few and earlier today, we managed to meet up briefly. He passed a couple of shrimps to me, and here's a selection of the photos I took. Thanks Draka!
These were meant to be sent to the Raffles Museum / NUS Department of Biological Sciences for identification, so once I was satisfied with the photos of the live shrimps, they were preserved in alcohol. Interestingly enough, while the colours of some shrimps and prawns fade completely and become a ghostly white, these ones, like many others, eventually turned bright orange after being immersed in ethanol.
I'll get in touch with the folks who specialise in crustaceans, and see if they can assist in identification.
They seem to have a pattern in the tail. What are the black flecks on the shrimp post preservation?
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
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stormhawk: Not too sure; it's not any regular patterning, just random black specks on the exoskeleton itself.
I thought they were parasites maybe. I reckon the crustacean people at the university would be happy to have 2 more specimens to identify. Did you get a close up shot of the shrimps from the side prior to pickling them?
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These were the best lateral view photos I could get, the shrimps were quite active and refused to keep still.
They do look like cherries at first glance, well yellowish ones. The specimen you photographed is a female. Did you preserve a male and female?
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
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I don't know how to sex shrimps, and Draka and I didn't pick and choose which shrimps from his bag were destined to be sacrificed for the 'greater good'. How do you tell males apart from females in atyid shrimps?
If it turns out that both are females, I know where to obtain more specimens.
Small is beautiful.
Heh heh, looks like something interesting here.
I'm typing on phone so I'll be brief.
The dead orange shrimp color is just the carotenoids being released from their conjugated proteins?
The shrimps' color may be darker and more vibrant/dense if they had been given time to settle down and if a darker background was provided.
From the lateral photos, it appears that their chromatophores' pigment are concentrated. Given better conditions, the pigment may disperse and return the shrimps to their normal colors.
If their body profile is similar to cherries, it would be fairly easy to sex the adults.
RMBR and DBS would entertain such requests from hobbyists?
Erm, just a friendly warning, shrimps and invertebrates are not covered under the NACLAR guidelines and does not require IACUC approval for research. However, all fishes are protected and official research would require proper approval. A classic example would be the zebrafishes.
So folks reading this, please don't start dunking fishes in alcohol.
Thanks for the pointers, Navanod!
Yeah, that sounds likely. I've also noticed that in vials where shrimp specimens have been stored for some time, the ethanol ends up getting a yellowish tinge.Originally Posted by Navanod
Very true. My workplace is better equipped to handle dead specimens, rather than cater to live ones.
Just did a Google search on how to sex cherry shrimps, so it's likely to be a male if it's even smaller and has a straight underbelly?
No harm trying, I guess. Besides, I'm NUS staff myself, and my workplace is affiliated with DBS and RMBR.
Oh yes, forgot about these guidelines. My workplace does plenty of field research and zero experimental labwork, so it's never occurred to us whether the specimens we collect are in accordance to any guidelines. In any case, thanks for noting that invertebrates are exempt anyway.
But oh yes, don't dunk fishes in alcohol! I do preserve fishes that we find already dead in the course of fieldwork, but that's beside the point. In any case, making a serious attempt to actually keep the ones that are still alive was what got me back in the aquarium hobby.
If the shell does not extend outwards in the belly region, but stops just before the "flippers" then it should be male. In your case, the shell extends outwards to form a protective armor when the female is carrying the eggs. In short, male shrimps, smaller and "skinny", female shrimps, larger and "fatter".
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Erm sorry didn't notice this thread last night. You're welcome Pseudo!
Anyway these shrimp were a pale grayish blue before they were stressed to this pale yellow. They are active and able to climb out of shallow nets. Sorry to say but I believe these 2 individuals to be female. I recall that the batch all seemed female and Phillip (CRS Haven) concurred with that. Anyway after I got the four I looked rather carefully at home, forgot to mention to you yesterday.Didn't manage to spot any obviously male ones myself, as these female shrimp are already quite "thin" from the top. Also, at first glance I thought they were cherries too, but there were a few malayan as well as "wild-coloration" cherries in the same tank so the differences were quite apparent, if subtle.
By the way I think Stormhawk is right in that the black specks might be parasites. It won't be the first time I had gotten shrimp infected with that particular weird, for lack of its name, thing at the gills of the shrimp. But these were direct from their tank. Damn it, the other two shrimp went into my tank argh...
Thanks Navanod for the heads up and reminder LOL. Can actually imagine people start dunking their fishes in alcohol when I read that.
@Pseudogobiopsis - Drop me the lateral photos if you need a 2nd opinion on the sex in the future? Which part of NUS are you in? Field works...hmmm...
I was part of the team that worked to get NUS approved by AVA when NACLAR kicked in about 10yrs ago, so its kinda stuck in my head now. Haha!
Any luck with getting those samples looked at yet?
@Draka - Pale greyish you say? Then that must be alot of color changes going on during the stress of transport. Intriguing...more than simply pigment concentration going on.
Parasites? I have a few names that may be what you had in the gills.
1. Glossiphoniidae
2. Temnocephalida
3. Scutariella
Could just be good old bacterial issues though.
i'll see if I can get a photo of them in my tank, I don't actually scape mine so the vegetation is a little... heh. But its not that of "wild-type" colouration. It puts to mind something similar to darker coloured yamatos? Blueish-greenish gray, but transparent.
Urgh, hope its just bacterial issues. Googled those 3 and the thoughts on them are "not pretty".
Alas, my camera is unable to take a clear photo. However, the coloration is correct and I hope this helps anyone interested.
In the last photo, the one in the foreground is the offspring of some "fire blue" shrimp I got long ago.
Any chance the supplier would know which country it's from?
I seriously doubt the supplier will give you a proper answer regarding the locality from which these shrimps were harvested from. They'll tell you it's a trade secret.
Shrimps definitely will have parasites, just like fish. Perhaps the folks who are doing the dissecting will know exactly what caused the black specks.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
I sure hope so and that its unrelated to my 3 yellow shrimp juvenile deaths today.
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