I've been trying to find out if North America has any native shrimp besides the really tiny ones and the saltwater ones. North America MUST have something along the lines of Ghost Shrimp or Red Cherries or something. It can't have only crayfish...
Are there any out there?
Native Shrimp
Started by
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, May 16 2012 02:48 PM
14 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:14 PM
Plenty of Grass shrimp. Basically a ghost shrimp. All along the Mississippi drainage, starts tapering off just upstream of the Ohio confluence.
#3
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:20 PM
Grass/glass shrimp Palaemonetes paludosus are all over the coastal plain and a little bit into the Piedmont. They get about 1.5 inch head-body length. Macrobrachium prawns are much bigger but I dont think we have those in the Carolinas -- not native anyways.
#4
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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:26 PM
I really like our native paleomonetes shrimp. Mine were very cute (they would sit there with a physa fontinalis snail in their claws like a squirrel with a nut) and bred easily. They bred so easily, in fact, that I once removed every adult from my tank and months later found more. I was like, "???" and then figured out there must have been babies in the tank that I couldn't see. >.<! It's great when the animals in my care are happy enough to breed and safe enough for their young to survive.
There are some pretty cool pictures here: http://www.petshrimp...glassshrimp.php
I like how you can see them eat their food.
Be careful, though, they are definitely jumpers. If they don't like the water they've been put in and you don't have a complete lid on your tank, you will find them outside the tank all across the room. At 10 cents a shrimp it's easy to try again, this time with better water quality and more live plants.
There are some pretty cool pictures here: http://www.petshrimp...glassshrimp.php
I like how you can see them eat their food.
Be careful, though, they are definitely jumpers. If they don't like the water they've been put in and you don't have a complete lid on your tank, you will find them outside the tank all across the room. At 10 cents a shrimp it's easy to try again, this time with better water quality and more live plants.
#5
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Posted 17 May 2012 - 12:33 AM
The ghost shrimp you see in stores are natives, as mentioned. Palaemonetes texanus is the most attractively colored IMO (but not commercially available).
It seems like atyids (members of the family containing cherry shrimp, Amanos, and so on) were more diverse in prehistoric North American surface waters in prehistory, since they left relatives in subterranean refugia in the eastern U.S. (Palaemonias alabamae from caves in Madison County, Atlanta, and P. ganteri from Mammoth Cave, Kentucky). The only surface-water forms around today are Syncaris pacifica and S. pasadenae (both from California, the second probably extinct), plus -- in Florida -- a Potimirim (this genus looks pretty similar to Old World Caridina) and at least one fan shrimp, Atya sp. There could be others, but they probably don't make it past very southern Florida since they'd have to be predominantly Caribbean species at the very northern edge of their distributions.
The continental U.S. is definitely home to some very interesting Macrobrachium -- the three species native to the Carolinas are M. acanthurus, M. ohione (which is, or used to be, very widespread in the Mississippi system, as far north as Ohio and Illinois), M. olfersi. Elsewhere in the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic states you'll also find M. carcinus (adults get huge and make very impressive pet material), and FL has M. heterochirus.
The warmer areas may also have feral M. rosenbergii from the Oriental tropics (aquaculture escapees), and the East Asian Exopalaemon modestus is established in some of the west coast states.
It seems like atyids (members of the family containing cherry shrimp, Amanos, and so on) were more diverse in prehistoric North American surface waters in prehistory, since they left relatives in subterranean refugia in the eastern U.S. (Palaemonias alabamae from caves in Madison County, Atlanta, and P. ganteri from Mammoth Cave, Kentucky). The only surface-water forms around today are Syncaris pacifica and S. pasadenae (both from California, the second probably extinct), plus -- in Florida -- a Potimirim (this genus looks pretty similar to Old World Caridina) and at least one fan shrimp, Atya sp. There could be others, but they probably don't make it past very southern Florida since they'd have to be predominantly Caribbean species at the very northern edge of their distributions.
The continental U.S. is definitely home to some very interesting Macrobrachium -- the three species native to the Carolinas are M. acanthurus, M. ohione (which is, or used to be, very widespread in the Mississippi system, as far north as Ohio and Illinois), M. olfersi. Elsewhere in the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic states you'll also find M. carcinus (adults get huge and make very impressive pet material), and FL has M. heterochirus.
The warmer areas may also have feral M. rosenbergii from the Oriental tropics (aquaculture escapees), and the East Asian Exopalaemon modestus is established in some of the west coast states.
Edited by Ouassous, 17 May 2012 - 01:07 AM.
#6
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Posted 17 May 2012 - 12:57 AM
How about this fresh water river shrimp: Big-claw river shrimp (Macrobrachium carcinus) from Texas.
Here is a good source to read.
http://decapoda.nhm....25682/25682.pdf
Usil
Here is a good source to read.
http://decapoda.nhm....25682/25682.pdf
Usil
Edited by Usil, 17 May 2012 - 01:10 AM.
#7
Guest_ZeeZ_*
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Posted 18 May 2012 - 11:09 AM
That gets absolutely huge! 15 inches! That would need something along the lines of a 75 Gallon tank, I'd think. Perhaps more.
Very cool photos, Erica! That explains why Ghost Shrimp are so cheap here... they're native. Doh.
So there are no native freshwater filter feeders? Wood Shrimp or anything?
Very cool photos, Erica! That explains why Ghost Shrimp are so cheap here... they're native. Doh.
So there are no native freshwater filter feeders? Wood Shrimp or anything?
Edited by ZeeZ, 18 May 2012 - 11:10 AM.
#8
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 18 May 2012 - 01:00 PM
Fritz straightened me out on the Macrobrachium prawns in the Carolinas. We have THREE species in NC and SC: The commonest is M. ohione, found in all the coastal rivers and up to 50 miles upriver from the tidal estuaries at some sites. M. acanthuus and M. olfersii have fewer records and all the records are pretty close to tidal waters. They might migrate farther upstream, but since they are uncommon anyway and most of the records are from coastal powerplant intake screens, we have no info on how far inland they come. All three species are amphidromous -- the larvae require brackish water to develop and they migrate upriver as they mature.
#9
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Posted 18 May 2012 - 07:50 PM
So there are no native freshwater filter feeders? Wood Shrimp or anything?
Here's a photo of a Potimirim that I collected in Puerto Rico (at least one related species makes it into southern Florida):
And here's one that someone else took of another Puerto Rican animal alongside a cherry shrimp.
I'm aware of a single report of a young Atya sp. being collected at an estuarine or marine site in Florida (post-larvae probably sometimes linger in saline water before migrating upstream). Would probably have been Atya lanipes:
Both of these probably have a fairly restricted distribution in the warmer parts of the state. There's a chance that the dwarf Caribbean fan shrimp Micratya poeyi occurs intermittently there too, but it's never been documented from the contiguous U.S. to date. Some tank and field shots of my old specimens (also Puerto Rican):
Xiphocaris elongata (Puerto Rico -- same situation as far as FL is concerned ... maybe less likely, actually):
To be honest, things don't get too diverse as far as surface-water shrimp are concerned until you get into Mexico or the Antilles. That said, the few Macrobrachium spp. you'll encounter are super interesting.
M. faustinum, close relative of M. olfersi in the Carolinas
Young M. carcinus
Edited by Ouassous, 18 May 2012 - 08:06 PM.
#10
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 19 May 2012 - 03:24 PM
Macrobrachium are very cool to keep, but it should be noted that they are aggressive and efficient predators. I watched one catch a bluefin killie that was swimming around a 75 gallon tank in daylight and eat half of it in about two minutes. Keep that in mind if you like your fish.
Palaemonetes are great too, but Erica is the first I've heard claim success at breeding them. They are a wonderful addition to a tank with fish small enough to not eat them.
Palaemonetes are great too, but Erica is the first I've heard claim success at breeding them. They are a wonderful addition to a tank with fish small enough to not eat them.
#11
Guest_ZeeZ_*
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Posted 21 May 2012 - 10:40 AM
Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I don't think I'd be able to keep anything with one of those. Anything too small, like a madtom, would be eaten. Anything larger would eat the Macro.
Maybe something along the likes of Redear... but those are predatory as well.
And that faustinum looks like it can eat anything it wants that that claw.
Are any of those able to be kept with others of their own species or are they like crayfish and need to be kept one per tank?
I love the Caribbean fan shrimp. That photo them in the water flow and in the net is amazing. Very nice patterns as well!
Maybe something along the likes of Redear... but those are predatory as well.
And that faustinum looks like it can eat anything it wants that that claw.
Are any of those able to be kept with others of their own species or are they like crayfish and need to be kept one per tank?
I love the Caribbean fan shrimp. That photo them in the water flow and in the net is amazing. Very nice patterns as well!
Edited by ZeeZ, 21 May 2012 - 10:44 AM.
#12
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Posted 20 January 2013 - 03:30 AM
Looks like dinnerHow about this fresh water river shrimp: Big-claw river shrimp (Macrobrachium carcinus) from Texas.
Here is a good source to read.
http://decapoda.nhm....25682/25682.pdf
Usil
...
#13
Guest_mnemenoi_*
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Posted 03 March 2013 - 08:52 AM
We catch the local Paleomontes and the invasive M. Rosenbergii here in the Houston are fairly regularly. Have never seen the M. Carcinus here, so I'll certainly look into its distribution. I have never been able to breed the Grass shrimp, but assume it is a low order breeder that requires some macro/micro food that is difficult to replicate in home aquariums. Have heard of a few others being able to and the only thing that was a commonality in the tanks were older systems, very low fish population, dense planting, and little filtration (sponges).
#14
Guest_Dan Johnson_*
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Posted 04 March 2013 - 03:10 PM
mnemenoi, I'm surprised you mention Paleomontes and M. Rosenbergii, but don't mention M. ohione. I've found M. ohione to be abundant in Buffalo Bayou. Using traps, I caught about 40 in one night. I have never seen rosenbergii.
#15
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Posted 04 March 2013 - 03:24 PM
Wow, I've actually had nearly the opposite result, lol. I have never caught M. ohione, but M. rosenbergii are quite plentiful where I was collecting on the south side and everyone had asked about the huge alien looking things... I'll have to keep an eye out for the ohione, new species to me are always fun...
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