Blue Tiger Shrimp really is a delight to behold. They are offered in a great variety going from light blue, greyish blue, dark or royal blue to even black. However only few specimen show a deep blue from head to tail, with broad black stripes. Another lovely contrast to the deep blue is the bright yellow or orange eyes. Generally it can be said, the darker the blue the higher the price.
Thorough selection was needed in order to breed the blue tiger shrimp out of the wild form of caridina cantonensis, originated in South-China and Central Asia. The blue colour is still not true and the offspring of the blue tiger shrimp will show a variety of shading. So if you buy some blue tiger shrimp and wish to have dark blue shrimplets, you will have to select as well and at least one other tank is needed for the shrimp that don’t meet your standard. Shrimp that don’t show any blue colour but are simply see-through with dark stripes and orange eyes are also called “Orange Eyes” or “Blonde Tiger” (in german). The percentage of dark blue tiger in the F1 (filial generation) depends on how selective the breeder has been before. Although the blonde tiger also carries the genes for a dark blue offspring, they should be separated from the group as soon as possible. The stricter your selection, the better your shrimp – better of course, always refers to how your breeding target is defined: There are people who prefer the light blue over the dark blue and vice versa. Keep in mind that it takes some week until the blue colour is visible on the shrimplets.
While a few of your shrimplets will not be as blue as their parents, the orange eyes do breed true. It should also be said that mature females who carry eggs tend to show a rusty red and brownish stripes instead of a blue body with black stripes. Again, while this is for some people the ultimate appearance of a blue tiger shrimp – others don’t like it at all. Make sure you search for a lot of different pictures on the internet before you order or buy some blue tiger shrimp – they can indeed look very differently. If you want to purchase a high quality blue tiger shrimp, here are a few things you should look out for.
Standards that should be meet
- Do the shrimp show an overall (dark) blue body (including tail and legs)?
- Do they have thick black stripes all over
(including the legs – though sometimes the blue is so dark the stripes are invisible)?
- Are the eyes of a bright yellow, orange or pink?
- Do the shrimp appear healthy and vital?
(shrimp that are easily caught shouldn’t be bought)
Shrimp that shouldn’t be sold as high quality blue tiger
- The shrimp don`t show a blue body all over
- The shrimp is see-through and doesn`t have black stripes at all
- missing yellow or orange eyes
- The black stripes are poorly developed
- The eyes show a washed-out yellow
- The shrimp show signs of illness
(lethargic, don’t eat, have missing limps, show rusty spots etc.)
Pricing
The time consuming selection should be the main reason for the high price a blue tiger still realises. Keep in mind that you don’t simply pay for a beautiful animal but by purchasing such a shrimp you also reward the time, space, patience and know-how the breeder has invested in order to select these wonderful shrimp out of many others. Most of the offspring has to be sorted out and only a few shrimp are good enough to work with.
