Cherry Shrimp - Genetic Diversity

[Lds760]

I started with 10 Cherry Shrimp at about Christmas time in a 29 gal tank.  Now there are … hundreds.

The question is, will inbreeding eventually become an issue? I.e., should I periodically introduce a few fresh stock for genetic diversity?

[dylaneff1]

It's possible, but pretty unlikely. There's a much higher likelihood of introducing an infection or parasite from introducing new shrimp than it would be for your current line to show issues due to inbreeding. If you did want to try to add genetic diversity, you would either need to do it pretty frequently or change out a significant portion of the population for it to have an effect. I would highly recommend quarantining each time you get new stock in that case. None of the breeders I know (myself included) do introduce new stock regularly, though.

[RonBFree]

As long as the shrimp are healthy and have good color it should be fine.

[JettsPapa]

I won't disagree with @dylaneff1 about the possibility of problems with inbreeding, because I don't know.  However, I do know of some shrimp breeders who periodically introduce new genetics once every year or two, and I know I do.  I was advised not to remove any shrimp from a tank where you've introduced the new genetics for six months to make sure you do get the new genetics in your colony.

I will certainly agree about getting them from a source you trust so you don't introduce problems.

[dylaneff1]

On 8/8/2022 at 11:43 AM, JettsPapa said:

I won't disagree with @dylaneff1 about the possibility of problems with inbreeding, because I don't know.  However, I do know of some shrimp breeders who periodically introduce new genetics once every year or two, and I know I do.  I was advised not to remove any shrimp from a tank where you've introduced the new genetics for six months to make sure you do get the new genetics in your colony.

I will certainly agree about getting them from a source you trust so you don't introduce problems.

That's interesting! How much new stock do you/they introduce at a time? I don't disagree that this is probably a good practice, but I'm wondering whether it has a large enough effect to actually prevent inbreeding.

[JettsPapa]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:01 PM, dylaneff1 said:

That's interesting! How much new stock do you/they introduce at a time? I don't disagree that this is probably a good practice, but I'm wondering whether it has a large enough effect to actually prevent inbreeding.

A few months ago I added ten or so each to my red and blue colonies (it was a swap with another breeder; we exchanged shrimp).  While of course there isn't any way to prevent inbreeding without separating the shrimp, I think that will help counteract any problems from concentrating too many of the same genetics.  I guess it's an "even a few is better than none" theory.

Edited August 8, 2022 by JettsPapa