Can Cherry Shrimp and Bee Shrimp Breed?

Written by Noa in Taiwan bee shrimp

Cherry shrimp and Bee shrimp are among the most sought-after freshwater shrimps due to their peaceful temperament and attractive looks. However, it’s easier to keep the Cherry shrimps than the Bee shrimp, as the latter is ideal for expert aquarists. So, do you ever wonder whether you can breed the two species to create perfect hybrid shrimps?

Cherry shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda) and the Bee shrimp (Caridina cantonensis) cannot breed, as they belong to different genera (Neocaridina and Caridina) and species. So, even if they mated, they wouldn’t produce viable offspring. 

However, you can keep these shrimp in the same tank as long as you observe their specific requirements. Breeding in aquarium shrimps is an intriguing biological procedure that requires aquarists to be well informed. The rest of this article will discuss a few topics related to this topic in detail. 

Can Cherry Shrimp and Bee Shrimp Breed?
Can Cherry Shrimp and Bee Shrimp Breed?

Cherry Shrimp and Bee Shrimp Cannot Breed

It’s impossible to breed Cherry and Bee shrimps as they don’t belong to the same genus and species. Cherry shrimp is a Neocaridina, while the Bee shrimp is a Caridina. Therefore, mating the two shrimp species would create infertile offspring.

Now, let’s have a look at breeding in freshwater shrimps.

Breeding aquarium shrimps to acquire the desired qualities can be a painstaking process. Although it’s not very challenging for aquarists to rear and breed the Cherry shrimp, breeding the Bee shrimp is more difficult. Therefore, only expert aquarists keep and breed Bee shrimps.

Mature females initiate mating by releasing pheromones (sex hormones) into the water. That leads to the males swimming frantically in search of the females to mate. After mating, the sperms fertilize the eggs, which the females carry on the lower abdomen (outside the body).

The female shrimps will then carry the fertilized eggs while fanning them continuously (for circulation) until they hatch. However, the hatching and maturity duration depends on the water temperature. The eggs will hatch within 28 days if you maintain the tank’s temperature at 22°C (71.6°F).

What Shrimp Varieties Can Breed With Cherry Shrimp?

Red Cherry, Yellow Cherry, Blue Cherry, and Black Rose Cherry shrimp are shrimp varieties that can breed with Cherry shrimp — these shrimps are the genus Neocaridina. However, Cherry shrimp can’t breed with all shrimps in the genus, as breeding is more productive among shrimps in the same species.  

You can breed shrimps belonging to the same species since they’re closely related. For instance, there are about 13 Cherry shrimp varieties. Moreover, some of these types have several grades that depend on their color intensity. Therefore, you can selectively breed two variants to create the desired Cherry shrimp coloration.

However, breeders should expect the offspring to lose some characteristics of the parental breed. For instance, if you breed Red and Yellow Cherry shrimp varieties, you won’t produce Orange Cherry shrimp but wild-type Cherry shrimp.

So, what’s a wild-type Cherry shrimp?

It’s the natural Cherry shrimp species that has grown in the wild. Therefore, such shrimps have dull colors to evade predators due to natural selection. So, breeding aquarium-bred Cherry shrimps may result in offspring bearing the semi-transparent brown or greenish-brown colors.

What Shrimp Varieties Can Breed With Bee Shrimp?

Other shrimps in the genus Caridina can breed with the Bee shrimp. However, viable and fertile offspring usually result from breeding members of the same species. Therefore, you can interbreed the Crystal Bee (black), Blue Bee, Golden Bee, and the Crystal Red Bee shrimp variations.

The Bee shrimp will breed with some species in the genus Caridina. But several sources argue that a few species in this genus can’t crossbreed. These include Cardinal shrimp (Caridina dennerli), Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata), Malawa shrimp (Caridina pareparensis), and the Red Nose shrimp (Caridina gracilirostris). Moreover, you can rear Bee shrimps with these species as they won’t hybridize.

Now, if you want your Bee shrimps to hybridize, keeping similar species in the same tank would be an ideal option. Unless you’re a professional breeder, you might get undesired characteristics. For instance, a cross between a Crystal Black Bee shrimp and a Tiger Bee shrimp will produce a vaguely striped offspring.

However, you can also maintain preferred features by breeding a dominant breed with a recessive one. For example, if you wish to preserve the white coloration in your Bee shrimp, you can interbreed the Taiwan Bee shrimp (recessive) and the Golden Bee shrimp (dominant).

More helpfull post on Breeding Can You Keep Crystal Red and Black Shrimp Together?

Conclusion

Crossbreeding freshwater shrimp breeds require sufficient knowledge of genetics. For instance, you can’t crossbreed a Cherry shrimp with a Bee shrimp, as they belong to different genus and species. Therefore, you can only hybridize shrimps that are closely related.

Sources

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