Not Exactly A Shrimp

[Baccus]

Normally I am mad keen on shrimp, I have a few species now but while on holidays I also got this tiny little guy and I think he's just as cute as any shrimp out there.
He has been hiding himself away, and this morning I was finely curious enough to risk moving his rocks and things to try and locate him to make sure he was even still alive.
Turns out he is more than happy in his tank with one small macrobachium shrimp and a few snails, he has even grown a smidgen.
I will be fascinated to see how big this little guy eventually gets, or if he remains a dwarf species of yabbie. And then who knows I may one day even be able to get a couple more.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

He is so cool. Where did you get him?
Was he wild caught?
Do you know his species?

 

[Lilfishy]

Oh he's cute

 

[Baccus]

He is so cool. Where did you get him?
Was he wild caught?
Do you know his species?

 
I got him in north Queensland and sadly I wouldn't have a clue what species he is but he maybe a type of swamp yabbie/ crayfish, if he is a swamp yabbie then he's a lot further north than recorded and will grow to the grand size of 2.5cm.
And yes he was accidentially wild caught, while we where out collecting native shrimp.
 
From memory I believe that NZ has a couple of native dwarf yabbies too.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

He sounds nice. I'm going hunting for shrimp soon as I'm pretty sure shrimp are illegal to sell in NZ which is a pain.  
It will be interesting if he is a Swamp Yabbie and that will be a nice size for him to grow too.

 

[Supraman]

This may be a silly question,

How big can shrimp get I would like to get some in the next medium sized tank I get

 

[Baccus]

Not crazy but some shrimp get to good eating size while others like the dwarf species only stay around 4cm. Macrobachium species of shrimp are some of the largest while caridina species are dwarf.

He sounds nice. I'm going hunting for shrimp soon as I'm pretty sure shrimp are illegal to sell in NZ which is a pain.

It will be interesting if he is a Swamp Yabbie and that will be a nice size for him to grow too.

 
Yes NZ is like Australia in that shrimp and other live inverts are not allowed to be imported. There are a couple of native species in NZ and from memory they like some of the native small fish are heavily protected.
http/terranature.org/koura.htm

 

[Supraman]

Cool and will shrimp attack fish like crayfish will?

 

[Baccus]

Some species of shrimp will like macrobachium, but usually any of the dwarf species are more at risk of being eaten by the fish kept with them.

 

[Supraman]

Thanks for the good info

 

[Blondielovesfish]

That was an interesting read thanks. It was my understanding that its illegal to sell native species unless they are captive bred but it is legal to have them for self use. I'll do some more research and see what I can find out.

 

[afiosemion]

Hello, excellent photos, not like mine... sorry.
 
I keep cambarellus with shrimps and no problem with them, what specie is this crab?
 

 

[Shelster]

That is so cute! Can't wait to see how big he gets!

 

[Baccus]

Well the little guy has grown so I thought it time for a photo shoot. He is probably all of 2cm long now the little dear.
Since he rather unsportingly hides under one of his rocks when ever the camera is handy I put him in a small tub that I get 25grams of fly pupae in for my birds.
The first few pictures are taken in the shed with a flash on the camera, the last couple where outside in sunlight.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

It's looking more like a crayfish now. 
It looks bigger than 2cm.