Sundog Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) Found this crawling on one of my aquatic plants, it's about the size.of a shrimp, with a head like a praying mantis......and the tail is split like a silverfish..... What in the heck is in my shrimp tank now? Edited February 14 by Sundog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Looks like maybe a dragonfly nymph. I’ve never had them, only seen them in videos. They can be predatory to fish and shrimp to the best of my knowledge. Hopefully someone with first hand experience will chime in! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Definitely dragonfly. They will eat your shrimp. Years ago I could have told you the species. But no longer, I’m afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerdyGerdy Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I agree it's a dragonfly larvae. I used to breed mosquito fish outdoors and the dragonfly larvae would occasionally prey on the newborn fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Actually not. Had to brush up a bit. It’s a damselfly nymph. Much smaller than a dragonfly with the three rear gills. Still will eat your shrimp. Piece by piece if it needs to. Was my actual degree, many, many moons ago. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Spoiler juvenile form of a predator, you dont want it in your tank!!! 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 This looks to be a damselfly nymph. I get them every year because my area is highly populated with them and I remove my screen to run used water hose to my garden. The female will submerge herself underwater to cut a slit in a plant and deposit eggs. Often the male can be seen assisting her out of the water when she is done. The adolescent stage can last from months to a few years. The time duration is dictated by food availability and temperature. They are voracious predators. Fry, shrimp and small fish and snails are at risk. Manual removal is your only option. These are tough critters. Anything that will kill them will kill tank inhabitants long before they are eradicated. They burrow in substrate. The strain I get always lays 6 eggs. Other strains lay more. These can come in on plants as well as be laid in your tank. They will molt as they grow and develop wing pads until finally emerging from your tank. The rear split fins are the gills. Thoroughly vacuuming can reveal them. Under objects, in sponge filters or mechanical filters are good hides. Until late stage they are ambush predators. I do night checks with flashlights when I know I have them in a tank. The eyes are crazy reflective. They are fascinating to watch develop into beautiful adults. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 That you for the tip about the eyes being easy to spot at night. Fortunately it's a small tank, unfortunately it's heavily planted so this may take time to sort out. I appreciate all the help, lots of baby shrimp in here so hopefully I can find them all quickly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktor zhivago Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Dragonfly larva. It breathes thru it's butt. It's all very unwholesome all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 2/14/2024 at 7:57 AM, Sundog said: That you for the tip about the eyes being easy to spot at night. Fortunately it's a small tank, unfortunately it's heavily planted so this may take time to sort out. I appreciate all the help, lots of baby shrimp in here so hopefully I can find them all quickly. In a shrimp tank is not the end of the world. If your tank is heavy with shrimp they most likely will not take out you entire population. I have neocaridina in all my tanks. I always have a 5 gallon shrimp tank near my window and it gets damselfly every year. They have never taken out the entire colony. Last year I put Psuedomugil luminatus in there for Qt and that is how I found out I had 6 late stage mature with wingpads. My shrimp colony had not noticeably declined and that is not a tank I spend time with. The tiny fish were terrified hiding in a front corner is what alerted me to them. If there are small pest snails in the tank the damselfly will go after those first. Easy meal they don’t have to work at. Lift all objects daily. The underside on things is their preference wood especially. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I'm voting Damselfly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Dragonfly for shear size. The largest dragonfly nymph is around 3 inches. Damselfly nymph’s are half that size. Dragonflies have no issues snagging small fish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 That is so awesome! It wouldn't last long in a tank with a large fish! Never seen one in a shrimp tank before, makes sense with nothing to chomp on it...It makes me look forward to doing some fly fishing this summer! The adults can be quite beautiful. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannon Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Damselfly! It can predate on very small fish so worth a little caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now