Amano identification

[libertybelle]

I got a group of amanos a couple weeks ago and most of them look like I’d expect amanos to look but one or two of them have darkened up to way darker than I’d expect.

Is it darker because of the food he’s eating or not actually an amano!?

Any experts want to chime in?

 

[Autumnsky]

Since their shell is mainly clear they are seen in many tints. Greenish, bluish, amber, clear and light reddish. Foods with algae, and astaxanthin tend to see better colors in shrimp.

As a side note, a way to tell male and female, is the females have dashes and dots and males just have dots on their sides.

 

[libertybelle]

So just a darker tinted amano then?

That’s a great tip about the markings, I didn’t realize the few amanos I’ve had before were apparently all female and so I was surprised when I didn’t see the dashes on some of these guys.

I wonder if the fact that they’re in a predator feee environment is encouraging them to color up a bit more than I’ve seen before when I have them in communities. I imagine, like fish, stress can effect their coloration.