Ninja Shrimp

[Yadokari]

Anyone have info on Ninja Shrimp?

I was able to get one from my LFS a month ago but it was sold to me under Crystal Black Shrimp. It came to me as a maroon color, I thought it was kinda weird so I decided to buy it. When I first saw it in their tank, it was black. Then when the lady helping me fished it out, it turned maroon. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw it black, so I ignored the fact that it changed colors. When I got home, I threw it into my tank and never saw it again until I did water changes. It was swimming around with a red color instead of its old maroon/black. I thought, "Is this even the same shrimp?" because it was red now. It keeps changing color so I keep getting second thoughts about it. However, what did strike me that was noticeably odd was the white bands it carried. Crystal Shrimp have white bands going straight down, this one is kinda diagonal.

I've come to the conclusion that it's a "Ninja" Shrimp. I tried looking up info on it, but found very little success.
I only have one, although I'm curious to know how they breed. Is it similar to the crystal shrimp where they pop out as miniature shrimp? Is there a larvae stage?

Any info on them would be great :-)
All I know is that they change color and is popular in Japan. Rare find in the US I guess. I've never seen them before on aquabid or ebay.

[pixl8r]

Many shrimp varieties change color, some drastically. One example, from my own experience, I've had Amano shrimp that have turned almost violet and maroon, for a time. I'm not saying that you do or don't have an example of Caridina serratirostris but, from the research I've done, most instances of 'Ninja Shrimp' sales are not Caridina serratirostris (also true of shrimp vendors in Japan/Asia). It is extremely difficult to distinguish from other species, requiring up close and personal examination (read magnification), and usually years of studying crustaceans.

[Yadokari]

I looked up pictures and they look pretty much the same. (online ninja and the shrimp I have)
The closest resemblance a ninja shimp has is the crystal shrimp and crystals can't change color. I'm 99% sure this is a ninja shrimp.

[pixl8r]

You're right, the coloration is very similar. But to confirm, you need to examine the rostrum and other body parts under magnification to definitively determine species.

The reason I hesitate to say that you found a Ninja shrimp among other Crystals, Caridina serratirostris 'Ninja shrimp' require brackish water to reproduce. The vast majority (I would go so far as to say 90+%) sold globally were caught in the wild. Crystals reproduce easily in captivity and so shrimp dealers can easily, and economically, sell to local vendors without dealing with the heavy losses from importing.