chameleon shrimp (Machobrachium sp.)

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M

Mr. Mom

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2013
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Alberta
Well serves me right ... thought I was safe getting something without researching first (I know I know ... shame on me) but it was shrimp ... go figure. Anyhow picked up some new shrimp, to add to my 3 cherry shrimp, for my sons 29G guppy tank (I get to utilize the bottom), picked up 2 Rili Red Shrimp, 3 Amano Shrimp, and these things called Chameleon Shrimp (I've since learned they're Machobrachium Sp.) today. Put them into the tank and my son immediately stated the Chameleon Shrimp were aggressive ... no I assured him because the lfs said so ... :( my fault. As I said this to him .... I saw the one put the chase on 2 of my cherry shrimp. So I went and did some googling .... Found two types of Chameleon Shrimp on the web ... one with pincers one without ... don't know what my 2nd Chameleon is.
The one with Pincers is a Machobrachium Sp. ... anyone has personal knowledge of this guy please let me know. I do think he's kinda cool. I've learnt to remove him from my sons guppy tank based off what I've read ... will eat small fish and shrimp ... ambush predator type of shrimp basically. So now he's with my Orange Mexican Dwarf Lobster and 2 African Dwarf Frogs ...
Now the second one is pretty beat up .. no pincers ... if it has any ... and missing some legs at the moment. My Orange Mexican Dwarf Lobster was missing some legs once, but have since grown back. So I'm hoping the same for this guy. The tank at the LFS .... had a bunch of the things 3 stood out (with pincers) didn't notice any pincers on the remaining shrimp in the tank. I'm keeping an eye on this second one in case it does grow pincers .. but just looking for info on this type of shrimp.
And yes ... lesson learned even things called shrimp deserve adequate research before approaching.
Thanks in advance
 
Here's some pics of the guy ... hoping someone has some info to pass along
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He survived the night okay it seems ... noticed my 2 African Dwarf Frogs aren't too impressed with him. I was worried that the 2 African Butterfly Cichlids may get him ... but he spent most of the night hidden in the hornwort and this is where I found him this morning on the water onion. The second one is doing okay ... eating, laying low, and licking its wounds so to speak. Should it develop pincers as well .. it'll get moved to this tank as well. But for now can stay with the guppies and shrimp.
Noticed another thread on here asking about info on this species ... but didn't see any replies. So hoping this one fairs a little better. Should no one have any experience on this species ... then maybe should I keep updating the progress of both my Chameleon Shrimp for future keepers.
All in all though I like this guy, very active and fast. Can cover the tank multiple times in minutes, then suddenly find a spot to hide and wait. He took a couple swipes at some of the tetras in my tank ... kinda leaps at them from behind.
Once again looking for input ... and thanks in advance, by the way ... sorry about the crappy pictures .... need to clean my tank walls (pretty obvious).

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F1 VET said:
Only one pic works and its blurry. But it isn't common for lfs to mislabel animals to help with sales and or their lack of knowledge.
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Sorry about the pics ... I had forgotten how to upload photos, it was a trial.
As for mislabeling .... the majority of the links I've come across for Chameleon Shrimp have led me to the Machobrachium Sp. ... so that part seems to be correct. I'm thinking the odd links that lead me to none pincer type shrimp are incorrect.
 
Now I'm not one to remove something from a tank just to take a photograph ... but he was right there. Hard to photograph this guy ... he just won't stay still ... but hopefully these are a little better ....
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The more I watch this guy ... the more I'm glad I did get him. Pretty strong for his size. When I put him back in the tank he scurried around for a bit then reached out and pulled an adult Red Serpae down to the bottom of the tank .... fish got away. He seems to have no fear ... he's taken swipes at everything in the tank already. Plus he even vacated my Mexican Orange Dwarf Lobster of its home under a little piece of slate. The sand was flying out from under the piece of slate as the Chameleon Shrimp dug an even deeper hole/indent underneath.
The more I find and read up on this species ... I'm beginning to think the second one I've got is the same. Markings and appearance of body seem to match each other. Size is slightly different though ... so could be a female and male. But like I said pretty beat up .... its currently hiding in the driftwood of its tank ... so best to leave it be and heal .... sorry no pics of it yet.
Once again ... any experience with these guys ... and what do you think?

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that is a fresh water prawn
 
Cod said:
that thing is scary
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Actually he's pretty cool to watch

Kaosu said:
that is a fresh water prawn
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Yes that's one of the many names I've found for this guy ... Macrobrachium Sp. (I spelt it wrong earlier I see). There's many different varities I've found, never seen anything like it before. So Kaosu ... any experience keeping this guy by chance.?
 
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