Red-Striped Amanos?

[madasafish]

Well, in an effort not to hijack Allivymar's *Blue* Rams post, I've decided I'll post my similar question in a separate thread...

Anybody ever seen Amano Shrimp with a bright red lateral stripe down their dorsal? I saw them last week in the LFS for $4.50 a piece, and decided to go with the *regular* amanos ($2.50 a piece) instead. I'm 90% sure these are dyed, and I am strongly opposed to dying/injecting fish and inverts, so I didn't get them...

But if anybody's heard of these guys, and they're not messed-around-with, I'd think about getting some for my tank. Anybody heard of them?

 

[madasafish]

BTW, these were not Cherry Shrimp or Palaemon scarletti--they were certainly amanos.

 

[madasafish]

Bump.

Darn, sounds like nobody's heard of these...

Well, I've spoken with the store manager since my first post, and he says this is natural coloration--that he had a few in the store for a while and that they didn't lose their color after several months... So perhaps these guys are really colored this way.

Still haven't found any info on the net about them, though.

Oh well... I thought I'd at least ask!

 

[TankGirl]

I know Amanos often will have a broken red line down their sides but not the dorsum, so I am stumped.

I would not think a shrimp would be a "dyeable" thing, as I would think it would not survive that, but the only thing I can think is that the shrimp were fed "red" food to bring out color. It could be you are seeing the contents of their "vein" and it is showing red. I have not seen a shrimp like that, before, to be sure, at the LFS or on the web.

 

[Sati]

I've never seen what you're describing either, Madasa...

 

[madasafish]

Yeah, I agree that it's improbably that they'd be able to inject die in along the dorsal line.

Well, what the hey. I'm going to get a couple. I'll take some pictures, too. Too late now, but I'll get some tomorrow. Wish me luck (I hope they're still there!)

Of course, they're $4.50 a pop and tiny (3 mm or so), but sometimes sacrifices have to be made! Think about it: they're worth more than their weight in gold, and about their size in karats! Sheesh!

 

[TankGirl]

Well, what the hey. I'm going to get a couple

That is what I said when I got my first Amano shrimp years ago. I heard they were heck on hair algae, so I inquired about the price. They told me $2.50 per each, or whatever it was, and I gave the blank look in response (I figured 4 for a dollar, or something, tops!). They said I should get one per gallon. I looked around to make sure nobody could see and went with 5 for my 12 gal, unwilling to pay more for the wee inverts. After seeing them go to town on my tank I was hooked, and I have kept shrimp ever since.

If I found a brightly colored one at the LFS I would buy them, too. The web seems like the best place to get shrimp, at least around here.

 

[vega]

I have several in my tank. Wat i notice is they will change color depending on wat you feed them as well.

norm those i brought are in white or clear color.after several day some will remain white/clear, some turn to red and some will turn to driff wood's brown.

HTH

 

[cdawson]

They're probably just regular amano, different strains have different colour variations. They can also change colour from time to time as well.
Mine have even looked like a cherry shrimp before! Next thing I knew, it was blue!
I've spoke to several advanced aquarium gardeners, and they said they just occasionally change colour for short periods and can also be from different strains.
I know a few of mine have red stripes along their back.

 

[madasafish]

Yeah, I think these are a different subspecies, but I do think that the difference is more than casual. They're selling the two types very separately...

I have noticed that my amanos change color to an extent. See my gallery (if the picture's cleared) for a picture of one of my amanos. He came in gray and now has a beautiful yellow line down his back!

I'm gonna get them today if they're still in the LFS!

 

[madasafish]

Gottem! 6. Set me back almost $30. Let's hopw these guys are worth it!!! I'll post pictures tonight if they come out. These guys are minute!

 

[trenac]

My Amano shrimps I have has broken lines down their sides that could be considered reddish/brown. As they mature they also get a black and white dot on each side of their tails. They are so much fun to set and watch. I can't wait to see your pics.

 

[TankGirl]

I can't wait to see them, either! I have some shrimp in my 55 but they have to hide extremely well to keep away from the gourami and the angel, so I don't see them hardly ever. Every once in a while I will see a shed skin go floating by....

I don't currently have a tank that I can enjoy them in. Course I do have that 10-gal in the garage...hmmm...

 

[madasafish]

OK... Pictures are REALLY poor.

Some of these shrimp look like Cherry Shrimp. They are red throughout, generally with small red blotches all over their exoskeleton.

The others seem to be amanos: they are morphologically the same, and have just a red line extending along their back.

This is really hard to see in the pictures, but it's more visible in the RedAmanos1 and RedAmanos2 pictures than in the RedAmano and RedAmano2 pictures (I think these are definitely Cherry Shrimp).

So my conclusion, after much scrutiny, is that I may have 2 different species here! You be the judge...

 

[madasafish]

One more poor image:

 

[madasafish]

I'm gonna get these guys into a better container and prove to you that they're not all Cherry Shrimp.

If they are, and this becomes more obvious, I'll feel extremely stupid.

But I'm sure right now that The "Red Amano" pictures are, in fact, Cherry Shrimp.

Well, hey. If they are all Cherry Shrimp, whatev. These guys are expensive no matter what, so I didn't waste my money. They're really pretty, after all!

 

[Guest]

I'll feel extremely stupid

That's MY job around here, thank you very much! heheheheheheee

Cherry Shrimp cost that much around here, so no matter what they actually are, you didn't get taken. Nice color, look healthy, enjoy them!

 

[madasafish]

Hehe. Oh, right. I forgot--the Onyx vs. Tahitian Moon Sand blunder, Corvus. Oops!

Suppose that's pretty much the same as my mistake, though (if it is).

Here are some better pictures. You'll see why these guys looked like red-stiped amanos now! Now I think these are actually immature Cherry Shrimp. But they're pretty!

 

[madasafish]

And in comparison, my real amanos:

 

[Allivymar]

Yep. Cherry shrimp. Least the all red ones; they look exactly like mine: