Wild Wild East

Shrimp have been famous in aquarium trade for over 30 years and the wild forms have always been available to hobbyists. One of the most important species has been C. multidentata for its work in the maintenance of planted tanks, another very relevant was C. simoni for being one of the first shrimp to be able to reproduce completely in freshwater and, finally, the famous C. logemanni for being the first freshwater colorful shrimp available in trade.

Asia is one of the continents with the greatest variety of wild freshwater shrimp, countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam and regions of Southeast Asia. Species such as C. logemanni (Bees), C. cantonesis (Tangerine / Aura / Cheetah), C. mariae (Tiger), C. serrata (Stardust), C. vetusta (New Bee), C. trifasciata (Three-banded ), C. haivanensis (Princess Bee, even though 3 species are called by this name), C. breviata (even though this shrimp has never been available on trade), have been famous over the years.Currently other types of shrimp are the most popular by wild shrimp lovers, most of them are not formally described, as is the case of Spotted Tiger, Galaxy Tiger, China Princess lee, Leopard ( C. rubropunctata ), Paracaridina species, etc., as well as species from Sulawesi.

Most of these shrimp belongs to Caridina serrata species group or to Sulawesi shrimp group, because they share common anatomical characteristics.

Due to the contamination of many of their habitats they have been reduced or disappeared from some areas, as well as by the introduction of invasive species. It is therefore vital efforts in its conservation by government agencies and specific habitat conservation projects.

Captive keeping as a conservation mechanism has worked for some fish and amphibians, but not for shrimp. Wild shrimp are not very popular due to their low coloration and most breeders have abandoned the projects after a few years, the colonies that continue more than 10 years are tiny. In the same way, most of the times in captivity they end up selecting patterns or colors or crossing with other lines, which already makes intact maintenance impossible.