All Shades of Shrimp: Preferences of Colour Morphs of a Freshwater Shrimp Neocaridina davidi (Decapoda, Atyidae) for Substrata of Different Colouration

Abstract

An ornamental freshwater shrimp, Neocaridina davidi, is popular as an aquarium hobby and, therefore, a potentially invasive species. There is a growing need for proper management of this species to determine not only their optimum breeding conditions, but also their ability to colonise novel environments. We tested habitat preferences of colour morphs (brown, red, white) of N. davidi for substratum colour (black, white, grey shades, red) and fine or coarse chess-board patterns to recognise their suitable captivity conditions and predict their distribution after potential release into nature. We conducted laboratory choice experiments (n = 8) with three individuals of the same morph exposed for two hours to a range of backgrounds. Shrimp preferred dark backgrounds over light ones irrespective of their own colouration and its match with the background colour. Moreover, the brown and red morphs, in contrast to the white morph, preferred the coarse background pattern over the finer pattern. This suggests that the presence of dark, uniform substrata (e.g., rocks, macrophytes) will favour N. davidi. Nevertheless, the polymorphism of the species has little effect on its total niche breadth, and thus its invasive potential.

Colour preference in juvenile European lobster (Homarus gammarus)

“…Future experiments should focus on brightness and irradiance measured separately as significant variables (Moss et al, 1999). In another experiment, Plichta et al (2021) showed that Cherry shrimp ( Neocaridina davidi ) preferred darker backgrounds, regardless of carapace colouration. Suryanto et al (2023) demonstrated that Louisiana crawfish ( Procambarus clarkii ) preferred red and deterred yellow colour, whereas Australian red claw crayfish ( Cherax quadricarinatus ) preferred blue and deterred yellow colour again.…”

Early Development and Enzyme Activity in Japanese Freshwater Shrimp, Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (Kemp, 1918)

“…Japanese freshwater shrimp(Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (Kemp 1918)) a species endemic to regions across Asia, ourish in diverse aquatic environments such as ponds, mountain streams, rivers, agricultural canals, and reservoirs (Nur and Christianus, 2013; Kenny et al, 2014;Plichta et al, 2021). The species' vibrant color variations and effective aquatic plant cleaning capacities have earned it signi cant popularity in the aquarium trade since its introduction around 2003 (Heerbrandt and Lin 2006;Nur and Christianus, 2013).…”

“…This gap in understanding has hindered progress in developing feeding strategies for crustaceans' early developmental stages, particularly given the growing demand and high market value of freshwater and marine aquaculture species and products. N. denticulata grows from a juvenile shrimp regime without undergoing a nauplius stage (Nur and Christianus, 2013;Plichta et al, 2021). Although it has a different growth mode than other crustaceans, it is an easy species to rear and a very good model to build upon.…”