Macrobrachium shrimp

[duanes]

A couple years ago, one of the local guys came over with a bucket of native freshwater shrimp from the island, I understand to be Macrobrachium.
Whenever he needs a little extra cash, he drops a bucket off, and I toss them in the sump, and some in the cichlid tank.
Over time a few crawl out, or kill each other, needing to be periodically replaced
Image my surprise when I looked in the sump this morning and saw this one lookin back.

 

[asian arowana]

cool

 

[asian arowana]

they remind me of prawns

 

[FJB]

Cool !
They are prawns, but of course that is one the problems with common names.
Macrobrachium spp. are circumtropical, with some species extending into the milder portions of the temperate zone. All are primarily predatory (including of each other), but would eat anything! including plant matter and carrion, just like many invertebrates and fish.
I worked for a while in experimental aquaculture of Macrobrachium americanum and M. rosenbergii, a number of decades ago. Their habitats are super interesting and every time I see Duanes photos from Panama and others, my patriotism gets stirred up and make me miss the tropics. I thank you for sharing often about the places you get to visit and the creatures you see.

 

[duanes]

These puppies are serious predators.
A few months back while trying to collect cichlids, we pulled this one out of the Utive river.
It was almost a foot long (that's a 5 gallon white bucket, and 8-10" net)

I had to take it home, just to see how it would do in my 180 community.
Within hours it was feasting on catfish

 

[puffers4puffers]

I got these to feed my Mbu
But it doesn’t like them
I think it’s scared of them!

 

[asian arowana]

haha

 

[asian arowana]

I would be afraid if I was him

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

I got these to feed my Mbu
But it doesn’t like them
I think it’s scared of them!

View attachment 1533296

View attachment 1533297

I would be afraid of those if I were a fish...but then again, I'm afraid of those and I'm a human LOL

 

[cockroach]

These puppies are serious predators.
A few months back while trying to collect cichlids, we pulled this one out of the Utive river.
It was almost a foot long (that's a 5 gallon white bucket, and 8-10" net)
View attachment 1533272
I had to take it home, just to see how it would do in my 180 community.
Within hours it was feasting on catfish

I really enjoyed the shrimp/prawn I had in my Taiwanese biotope but those guys get nippy. And with the fish being so fast, it must have been hitting them at night. They also give one hell of a pinch if not handled properly.