Crystal Red Shrimp
Description of Crystal Red Shrimp
red bee shrimp
The Crystal Red Shrimp is a variety of freshwater crustacean of the genus Caridina. It is exactly the same species as Bee Shrimp; the only difference is in color. In 1991, Mr. Hisayasu Suzuki of Japan started breeding normal bee shrimps, which are banded with black stripes. He noticed a single red bee shrimp in a batch of about a thousand shrimps and was fascinated by it. This first red bee died but three generations later, he discovered 3 red bee shrimps among the thousands he had bred. After many cycles of selective breeding from redder offspring, he finally arrived at the true red bee. In 1996, he named it “Crystal Red” and has been awarded a patent for this recessive red mutation of the normal bee shrimp. Of the shrimp species, Crystal Red Shrimp is the most sensitive to fast changes of water parameters due to a smaller gene pool. In fact, the entire world’s crystal red shrimps shared common ancestry from the original 3 bee shrimps. Crystal Red Shrimp is a fairly small shrimp, growing to about 2.5 cm in adulthood. As Crystal Red Shrimp can crossbreed with normal bee shrimp as well as bumblebee shrimp and tiger shrimp, which are also of the Caridina species, it is highly recommended not to keep them in the same tank. The Crystal Red Shrimp is not as difficult of a species to breed like some believe. Like all hobby shrimp, it can breed just as readily as most other Caridina species, and will also produce just as many offspring given clean water and good tank conditions overall. However, it is not a beginner’s shrimp. Pictures do not do this shrimp justice. The intensity of the red combined with the solid white coloration really makes this Shrimp stand apart from the rest. I highly recommend that all shrimp hobbyists at some point acquire this species. Please read the parameters and conditions that this species prefers before you decide to acquire this shrimp.
