Most freshwater shrimps that are established in the hobby originate from Asia and Afrika. Not even one species from South America has become a permanent aquarium inhabitant. There are several reasons for that, but the most important one is the fact that in most species from South America the larvae develop in marine environments. This makes it pretty difficult to raise them under aquarium conditions.
Now we were able to import Macrobrachium brasiliense from Peru, one of the very few species of Macrobrachium from South America with large eggs that can be bred quite easily in home aquaria. Males of that shrimp become around 8.5 cm, females around 5 cm long (body length only). The species has a wide distribution in South America. It prefers soft and slightly acidic water, but thrives also well in medium hard water.
The very attractive species – coloration changes a lot depending on mood and equipment and can be anything from whitish to deep reddish brown – is at least the first choice for biotope aquaria with fishes from South America.
For our customers: the animals have code 484383 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Macrobrachium: ancient Greek, means “with big arm”. brasiliense: means “coming from Brazil”.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
