Neocaridina Heteropoda is the vary same shrimp that your Red Cherry and Yellow Shrimp were selectively bred from some time ago. That being said the wild version shows up now and again in the hobby as Rainbow Shrimp, Blueberry Shrimp, or even Malaysian Shrimp and all of these names are given to other wild species as well making it somewhat confusing at best. I acquired these shrimp from a fellow named Pete that I met on the Planted Tank Forum's Shrimp section while he was trying to figure out just what he had been sent as Malaya Shrimp and after seeing photos of my Malaya Shrimp he knew what he had was misrepresented by the seller. I was then contacted asking if I would like to have them and this is what lead to me having these shrimp. But what exactly are they is the question...
It actually took a lot of asking around as well as researching to find the answer, but they are indeed Neocaridina sp. which is native to South East Asia where they are still very common in the wild. However here in the USA these guys are just not all than common so I was very glad to get them and will actively keep and breed them as long as they cooperate. Keeping them under the same conditions as RCS and Yellows should work fine and I currently have them at 7.8 PH and Temp 78F. Exactly which Neocaridina sp. do I have then? Sadly I may never really know as there are so many out there and positive identification is possible only with an expert and a microscope. Also there just are not that many people studying these or any other shrimp currently making getting a positive ID even harder. So what do we call this shrimp?
After having these shrimp for several days they are now really getting colored up and it turns out there are even several saddled females in the bunch which will mean young soon hopefully. In this next photo you can see the light green saddle on the female indicating eggs forming in her ovaries. By the look of her she will be berried within a week or two. I should be well on my way to a active breeding colony very soon.
In my research I have discovered that this shrimp comes in a wide variety of colors and has different body patterns as well making it a very interesting shrimp to keep and the diversity of the gene pool could lead to some interesting shrimp in the long run. So the new adventure begins and I'll share info as I learn with these shrimp and who knows perhaps soon I will have some to share with others in the hobby.
As always I welcome all feedback and questions. Email Me: southerndesert@yahoo.com I don't have all the answers, but I answer any questions I can and I still have a lot to learn about these fascinating inverts!