English name: Blue Shrimp
Scientific name: Caridina ssp. 'blue'
Size: up to 3 cm or 1.2 inch
Water temperature: up to 28°C or 82°F
Water parameters: pH 6.5 to 7.2
Origin: Taiwan (?)
High or low breeding form: high
The above picture shows a beautiful blue shrimp, it is a color variation of the normally more or less colorless Neocaridina palmata bosensis Cai, 1996. This male is a wild-caught import from southern China.
Some vendors are found to be selling blue forms of the Malayan shrimp (Caridina sp.) as Blue shrimps. A blue Malayan shrimp can be recognised by a obvious brown stripe on its back. This is such a bluish (presumably) malayan shrimp:
There is also a blue species from mainland China, which belongs to another species. In contrast to this blue shrimp, the species from China can also be brown-blue or solid brown. This is such a such blue species from China:
In Europe there are also quite a lot of artificial blue colored shrimps in the market. Sometimes even yamato shrimps were injected with blue ink and sold as blue shrimps.
As a conclusion you can say that there is not a single blue shrimp but various blue or bluish shrimp species. Not all of them have a stable blue coloration e.g. Neocaridina palmata bosensis or the malayan shrimp and their offspring is also not always blue.
Scientific name: Caridina ssp. 'blue'
Size: up to 3 cm or 1.2 inch
Water temperature: up to 28°C or 82°F
Water parameters: pH 6.5 to 7.2
Origin: Taiwan (?)
High or low breeding form: high
http://www.shrimpnow.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/C_blue.jpg
The above picture shows a beautiful blue shrimp, it is a color variation of the normally more or less colorless Neocaridina palmata bosensis Cai, 1996. This male is a wild-caught import from southern China.
Some vendors are found to be selling blue forms of the Malayan shrimp (Caridina sp.) as Blue shrimps. A blue Malayan shrimp can be recognised by a obvious brown stripe on its back. This is such a bluish (presumably) malayan shrimp:
http://www.shrimpnow.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/C_blue2.jpg
There is also a blue species from mainland China, which belongs to another species. In contrast to this blue shrimp, the species from China can also be brown-blue or solid brown. This is such a such blue species from China:
http://www.shrimpnow.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10010/blue_shrimp2.jpg
There is also a second blue species from China, which it looks like this:
http://www.shrimpnow.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10010/blue_spotted.jpg
In Europe there are also quite a lot of artificial blue colored shrimps in the market. Sometimes even yamato shrimps were injected with blue ink and sold as blue shrimps.
As a conclusion you can say that there is not a single blue shrimp but various blue or bluish shrimp species. Not all of them have a stable blue coloration e.g. Neocaridina palmata bosensis or the malayan shrimp and their offspring is also not always blue.