Back in the day, there was a species of Macrobrachium that was commonly sold in aquarium stores here in Canuckistan as "Blue Lobster". At the time, they were said to originate in Asia but without any such thing as internet I had no way to be sure. They looked exactly like that photo. They grew quite large, easily hitting body lengths of 6 inches or more, and the claws grew relatively larger and larger compared to the body on some of the big ones (which we assumed to be male). That last pic in the post by
duanes
shows this well.
They were fierce and aggressive predators, requiring their tankmates to be big and well-able to handle themselves. They did great in cichlid community tanks, fitting right in with the other boisterous a-holes and surviving well despite their periodic periods of vulnerability immediately following a moult. Occasionally, one of them would go for a walkabout and be found in some far corner of the house, desiccated and dead on the floor but appearing very much alive and causing terror among the unsuspecting non-aquarist members of the family. The dogs in my life had to be trained that the shrimp, like chickens, were not to be harmed.
Interestingly, I periodically buy large shrimp labelled as "tiger" shrimp in local food stores, frozen whole and apparently also of Asian origin. They are dead ringers for those long-ago Blue Lobsters, and for the shrimp in the OP's tank. Never tried eating them myself; they, along with sushi, fall into the category of "bait" IMHO and are used for that purpose when fishing for channel cats.
duanes
shows this well.They were fierce and aggressive predators, requiring their tankmates to be big and well-able to handle themselves. They did great in cichlid community tanks, fitting right in with the other boisterous a-holes and surviving well despite their periodic periods of vulnerability immediately following a moult. Occasionally, one of them would go for a walkabout and be found in some far corner of the house, desiccated and dead on the floor but appearing very much alive and causing terror among the unsuspecting non-aquarist members of the family. The dogs in my life had to be trained that the shrimp, like chickens, were not to be harmed.
Interestingly, I periodically buy large shrimp labelled as "tiger" shrimp in local food stores, frozen whole and apparently also of Asian origin. They are dead ringers for those long-ago Blue Lobsters, and for the shrimp in the OP's tank. Never tried eating them myself; they, along with sushi, fall into the category of "bait" IMHO and are used for that purpose when fishing for channel cats.
