# Vampires in sight !



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I got a single Vampire shrimp awhile ago. Only one because they appeared to be all the same sex and I wanted a pair. Store called it a Cameroon shrimp, but it's Atya gabonensis.. aka, Vampire shrimp. Quite young, no idea which sex it was and since I released it I've not seen much of it. Very, very shy creatures.

I recently acquired another pair of them. One pale blue, like the first, which seems to be the most common colour, the other very different, a dark charcoal shade. I've seen it once since it arrived.

And only once have I seen a Vampire more than an inch or two above the tank bottom. Typically they stay at the bottom. The one time, the shrimp had tucked itself into the centre hole of a flat sponge I have hanging on my tank side. Don't know if it was feeding there, it was only by chance I even saw it and it vanished in moments.

My Bamboos [ Atyopsis moluccensis] and a dwarf species just like them [ also Atyopsis, but I forget the other half of the name just now ] like to hang on that sponge, while they spread their fans in the current from the pump just behind it. But I have not seen the Vampires doing this kind of feeding behaviour.

Been a bit frustrating seeing so little of the Vampires, until tonight, when I saw one of the blue ones out in the clear. It was near the front, near one side, and fanning away vigorously while sitting on the bottom of the tank. This time it didn't vanish right away.

Though the glimpses have been few, there are some clear differences between Gabonensis and the A. Moluccensis. Bamboos are not shy. They'll stay out, even during tank maintenance or planting, and they most often feed very near the surface, directly in a current, even hang upside down from floating plants to feed. They also hold their fans still for a long time, wiping them periodically over their mouths to eat what they've caught.

Tonight I finally had a chance to watch one of the blue Vampires feeding for awhile. Unlike the Bamboos, it waved its fans most of the time, using a clenching motion somewhat like a Bamboo will when trying to feed off the bottom. But it is not bottom feeding, it is sifting the water column. It's just doing it very low down in the column. It looks rather like it's waving at me, and it was very nice to see it didn't run for cover this time.

I am hoping I end up with a pair. Be pretty amazing if one got berried someday, though they have not been tank bred that I know of. Depending how they get on, might have to move one to another tank at some point, as they are said to be territorial and once they grow, a 30 may not be enough space for 3. They're all young yet, not more than two inches long, so it will be awhile before they are mature. Be interesting to see if males have the thicker pair of front walking legs that Bamboo shrimp do. Assumes I have both sexes, which I am not sure I do.

Meantime, it's nice to see that at least one of them seems to be more comfortable in the tank, getting a bit braver, spending a bit of time out where I can observe it, even if only for short periods. I hope the other two will do the same soon.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

[wrong info]


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

'portion deleted due to wrong post above'

Do you know if there are easily visible differences between males and females once they mature a bit ? Bamboos are not hard to tell apart if you have a male and female side by side even when quite young, though it's much easier when they are older. The male's legs grow so much thicker and develop a big hook behind the forearm. Is there a similar difference with Vampires ?

I have read one of the legs in males gets bigger, but it was not clear which leg the article was talking about.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

I realized you're talking about shrimp. Sorry, I saw vampire in the title and instantly thought crab because that's what I've been looking into. Disregard my info above - that was for vampire crab. Sorry, I'm not help with regards to vampire shrimp.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

No worries. Truly, I had no idea there was a Vampire crab, so I learned something anyway.


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