Baby Ghost Shrimp?

[JAYGEE]

Can y'all help me identify this shrimp? When I first setup my tank I bought 10 ghost shrimp. To see if I could keep them alive. This morning I noticed a baby shrimp. Looks like the bigger ghost that I have. I'm going to post a pic if the baby and adult.

When I bought some fish from Tim he threw in a few blue berry shrimp butninhaemt seem those since I first put the in, unknown if they are still alive.

Only other shrimp I have are RCS.

Adult


baby




thanks in advance!

[barberking12]

those would be ghost shrimp

[mnemenoi]

It certainly appears to be a ghost shrimp, my guess would be a smaller one in the bag that was unnoticed though it could have been bred in the tank itself. They have a low order type reproduction and a planktonic state in their younger development that is very difficult to successfully reproduce viable food/conditions in the aquarium, but could be possible. It could be a young blueberry as well, they look very similar at young sizes

[eklikewhoa]

I agree with mnemenoi.

Blueberry or a tiny ghost that made it past you.

[JAYGEE]

Thanks or the info., I has to be an offspring because I haven't added the ghost shrimp a few months ago. I was just curious because I read that they needed brackish water.

[allysangels]

i agree with the others.. i must be a smaller ghost shrimp that wasn't seen before now..

[mnemenoi]

Brackish water is something I find implausible (from my own observations) due to the fact they reproduce in ditches in the Spring/Conroe area with no reasonable manner of reaching any nearby brackish source and travelling back. They are very difficult to reproduce and I have found if no other answer presents itself, then brackish water is needed seems to be the pat answer from online sources. I myself believe they have a zoa/planktonic state and require some food (think phytoplankton) that is unachievable in an aquarium enviroment, though could be accomplished in an outdoor kiddie pool under direct sun. So one could have made it, though they usually throw hundreds of eggs at once. I think this is why they appear to need something most aquarists are unable to provide and they get lumped into a 'brackish' requirement. They are found all over the US and imagining this tiny shrimp journeying from Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico and returning seems a bit far fetched.

[Tiapan]

They can and are bred in captive tanks, but there are several factors. (having had them breed at least a couple of times, I say this because i did not have another shrimp species in the tank and more shrimp kept appearing and i saw berried females often ) Very low fish population makes a difference. But main things are a DENSELY planted tank. and i mean dense. The tank i had them breed in basically had very little current due to soooooo much najas grass (aka guppy grass). and the right balance of available food. yes they have a planktonic stage (at least thats what the scientific articles I read about them said, though brackish was not a requirement) but will a minimal amount of water flow there are plenty of dead areas in a tank for them to develop and thrive given a heavy planted tank and all its micro organisms. even had them alive inside a canister filter. absolute craziness.

[JAYGEE]

I see berried females on a regular basis, this is the first time I have seen a baby. I have posted a pic of what my tank looks like now.



thanks for the info guys and gals! If I see more ill post another pic. But so far I have only seen 1.

[troy tucker]

I agree with mnemenoi.

+1