What kind of shrimp is this?

[Kirsten]

A few weeks ago, I bought what I thought were a few neo shrimp from a local pet store on a lark. Some red, some blue. Wasn't sure if the gourami I'm about to get would eat them, so didn't spend much. They've mostly stayed small and colorful and fun to watch. But this morning I saw this magnificent beast swimming around!

 

(excuse the messy stem plants, which are more just around to keep the tank cycled til I get bigger & better in.)

But this shrimp's almost the size of an adult guppy at this point and while it has striping kind of like a Sakura-grade cherry shrimp, it's more a purple-ish brown.

What the heck do I have here? I love it! But I'm surprised.

[JettsPapa]

My best guess is it's a bamboo shrimp.

[SWilson]

It does look a bit like a wood shrimp/bamboo shrimp.  Does it have fans instead of pinchers?   It's intersting though that you got one as a juvenile (I assume b/c it's growing) because I think those need brackish water to breed.  So I doubt that the pet store could have accidentally bred them.  

Edited February 23, 2021 by SWilson

[Jungle Fan]

I would say they are Amanos, unless they have the fans that look like hands with which they filter nutrients out of the water.

Here are both:

 

[Kirsten]

Yeah, I dunno, I have an adult bamboo shrimp in another tank and it's definitely more of a yellow-brown. Here's another pic next to a true red one, and it's only a little larger. So maybe neo shrimp just get bigger than I expected? I'm almost thinking it's a red-blue mutt. 

[ElTigre]

Assuming you bought that shrimp from a tank with a mix of different colors its most likely just a "wild type" neo shrimp. Over time without culling and selective breeding neo shrimp default to clear/brown.  So this shrimp is probably one that's just reverting back to its natural coloring. 

[Colu]

It looks like  amano shrimp to me

[Kirsten]

52 minutes ago, ElTigre said:

Assuming you bought that shrimp from a tank with a mix of different colors its most likely just a "wild type" neo shrimp. Over time without culling and selective breeding neo shrimp default to clear/brown.  So this shrimp is probably one that's just reverting back to its natural coloring. 

Yeah that sounds right to me. The tank was all mixed, even with crystal shrimp and I think some pinocchio shrimp. It was kind of a glorious mess. Assuming any survive the coming gourami onslaught, I might get more serious about only raising one color.

But my little blue shrimp is already hard at work with her eggs! How can you say no to a face like that 🙂

[Streetwise]

These are mixed Neocaridina. I love them. I hope this helps.

[Kirsten]

4 minutes ago, Streetwise said:

These are mixed Neocaridina. I love them. I hope this helps.

Love it! Thanks so much!

[Jungle Fan]

Wow, that's some large Neocaridina the size of a full grown guppy, my Blue Velvet and some of their colorful throwback offspring are 3/4" at the most, but what they lack in size they make up in fertility.