cS

Fishfry & Litesky, you two are obviously seasoned hobbyists; and you can't even tell the difference between a real Caridina japonica and this "fake Amano shrimp"!!! Are they very similar in appearance? Do you have any comparative pictures?

I didn't know that there exists an imitation. There's a LFS that sells them for X dollars while every other store charges 2-3x that amount. I was planning on purchasing the inexpensive ones; but after having read this thread, I am having doubts.

Any help is highly appreciated.

gnatster

I've also seen reference to both Amano Shrimp and Yamato Shrimp. Are these both synonyms for Caridina japonica?

Gomer

Amano and yamato are the same.


What litesky is refering to is a labling issue. Petown got some shrimp that they got from their distributor that were labled Japonka shrimp. These ended up being malayan shrimp although sometimes they were amano shrimp. These only cost $1 each, so I don't find much harm in it. They now have real amano shrimp that are labled properly ant are iirc $1.99 each.

giddygid

the shrimp cost so much in the US??

in singapore, prices for malayan shrimp can go as low as S$0.10 and S$0.80 for yamato/amano shrimp!

aquaverde

They cost that much and more.
Import prices are a bear. Those are good prices, and lower than I've seen in my area.

neonfish3

So......What are the visual differences between Amano shrimp and Malaysian Shrimp? There's a store by me that just has them labeled as algae eating shrimp and there $2.49 each. But from pics I've seen they look like Amano shrimp

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gnatster

While the cost may be low close to where the shrimp are bred here in the US we have to pay for many layers of distribution and the cost of getting them to their ultimate sale location. Each step along the way adds costs and increased risk of DOA's. Futhermore one needs to take the currency differences in mind too. As your $0.80SG is worth $0.43 today in the US. So my 2.99 shrimp is 4.95 for you in comparable $'s

gnome

Here's a pretty good photo I found of Malayan shrimp sporting its "typical" color you'd most likely see at the store:
http://www.aquajapan.com/encyc/shrim...na/sp0002.html
If you look closely and compare it to the photo of an Amano shrimp, they look VERY different. HOWEVER, Amano shrimp are usually sold while they are still in a "juvenile" stage, so their distinct patterns and such are not so obvious. When the Malayan shrimp are still showing this lighter beige color, it's fairly easy to get them confused with Amanos if one is not paying attention. Size and color are often very similar.

Here is what Malayan shrimp can look like when they feel "at home":
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?a...&artNo=029
As you can see, they can take on all sorts of colors. They're a lot like rainbow shrimp, only bigger and I believe they hatch larvae like Amanos, whereas rainbow shrimp hatch just smaller versions of themselves, like most Neocaridina species I know of.

Note the characteristic stripe that runs down the carapace of the Malayan shrimp. See how at approximately half-way, this stripe sort of "bleeds" to the side. This stripe feature is usually apparent no matter what color the shrimp. Amano shrimp also can have a line going down the same part of the carapace, but it's much thinner. They also have distinct spots and dashes that run along the sides, which Malayans don't.

-Naomi

gnome

Oh yeah - almost forgot to point out how with Malayan shrimp you can see the little white tips of the tail. This is probably as consistent a feature as the stripe down the back, or even more so.

If there are other japonica "impostors" out there, it would be nice to know about them.

-Naomi

trenac

I'm not aware of any "imposters" or heard of any for the Amano shrimp. My LFS also sales Amanos labled as algae eating shrimp for about $2.50 each. Here is a good link for id'ing shrimp... http://www.azgardens.com/shrimpfactory.php