the diddy on shrimps

[Dangerdoll]

ok, my sister's got a SW tank and I have a FW. Both of us have shrimp in them........ hers came as common shore shrimp, mine came as ghost shrimp (might've been glass shrimp, not sure which). Now in compring hers to mine, they look completely identical....what my question is......is it the sme shrimp....just one adapted to salt and the other to freshwater? Could both survive both FW and SW. (just wondering, not going to switch)

 

[RTR]

Ghost shrimp in this country are harvested along the Gulf Coast seasonally. There are at least two species which are to me indistiguishable by eye. Both are captured in brackish water. One reproduces with fairly large eggs/embryos which are small versions of the adults and settle out quickly. The other has many more and smaller eggs/embryos which live planktonically in seawater through several molts before they appear in the form of adults.

Both forms can live for extended periods in FW, BW, and SW. One needs SW to breed, the other doesn't.

Actually, the odds are there are more than just two species, but we know of two.

HTH

 

[Dangerdoll]

thanks RTR, well the breeding part is very evident by the way they are multiplying in the saltwater.......and none in the freshwater....... but that eased my curiosity for the night thanks!!