Caridina multidentata

Caridina multidentata
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Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Infraorder:	Caridea
Family:	Atyidae
Genus:	Caridina
Species:	C. multidentata
Binomial name
Caridina multidentata Stimpson, 1860

Caridina multidentata, also known as Yamato shrimp or Amano shrimp, is a species of shrimp found in Japan and parts of Korea and Taiwan. It has a translucent body covered with reddish brown points of ± 0.3 mm on their sides which may look like a broken line of reddish colour. The dorsal surface has a white stripe that runs from the head to the tail and the eyes are black. Females are easily distinguished from males from the more elongated lower row of dots lining the body. According to different sources, Caridina multidentata was introduced into the world of aquaria by Takashi Amano in the early 1980s. They are usually used in an aquarium because they feed primarily on algae, thus cleaning the aquarium if in large numbers. Caridina multidentata was previously known to aquarists as Caridina japonica but was renamed Caridina multidentata following a study in 2006.

Reproduction

Caridina multidentata mate in freshwater streams and marshes. Female shrimp signal readiness to mate much like other shrimp species by releasing pheromones into the water which the male shrimp follow to find the females. The fertilised eggs are released and go through larval stages in brackish and salt water as they drift out to sea. This however is not always the case in captivity as some people have successfully bred them in freshwater only. Once the young shrimp have metamorphosed into the final larval stage and resemble small adult shrimp they migrate back into freshwater for the remainder of the lifecycle.

External links

• Media related to Caridina multidentata at Wikimedia Commons
• Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata), Aquarium Wiki