# wild caught Atyopsis spinipes.. very cool



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Got some of these, a bit by chance, thanks to Tommy, who knows of my interest in fan shrimp. I'll try to get pics, right now about half of them are lined up like little piggies at the trough along the outer edge of the sponge filter, fanning away. These are extremely cool looking little guys, and I've been able to determine that both sexes are represented in the group, many of which are still juvies.

They have very, very TINY fans.. barely visible to the naked eye. They seem much more active than the other species of fan shrimps I've seen or have. Various colour shadings among them, including bluish, yellowish, and just very pale, but all have that wide stripe down the back that has an interesting striated grain pattern on it, as the do A. moluccensis and the Golden Fan variant of this species.

I'd never been certain if the Golden Fan variant of A. spinipies, which I also have, was a natural one, or a mutation that had been selected for and bred on, but I think, given that these were said to be wild caught, it has to be a natural variant. This especially because just one of this group turned out be a Golden Fan type. I wonder if it's simply a genetic mutation that breeds true or perhaps a subspecies ? This new Golden Fan that showed up with the wild group is quite red in colour. One of my other Golden Fans turned this colour in my main tank, but I don't know why, and it does not seem to mean anything special, as all of them that I have appear to be the same sex. No idea which sex either, as I don't have the other sex to compare them to. Don't see saddles on any, but perhaps they are not old enough, or perhaps it's just not very visible under their body colour and striping. If I manage to catch a few one day, I'll try and take a close look at some of them with a magnifying glass to see if any saddling can be viewed.

Btw, if anyone knows where I can get more of the Golden Fan variants, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Because mine are all one sex, until I can get some more of both sexes, I have no chance of breeding them, and I'd like to try it. I am hopeful these new wild ones will reproduce at some point - it would be interesting to try and select some colour strains.


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