Andreas Karge has written in an German forum, that the so called ‘Larry‘ shrimps are the same species as the so called ‘Camouflage Tiger‘ shrimps. They are very similar to C. meridionalis and need very soft water, light acid and cool water (<30 µS). This species seems to have a very wide phenotype with different colorations and patterns though the populations live in neighbourhood creeks.
Aquanet.tv published a video on shrimp habitats in Hongkong, Lantau Island. Everybody interested in viewing caridina serrata in a creek can have a closer look here (main movie, counter is 0:45-4:00)
Thanks to Andreas Karge who has examinated the former scientific unknown “Larry” shrimp lately! These shrimp are close to C. meridionalis and C. serrata but differ in detail. The microscopic analysis has led to the conclusion that this species belongs to genus Paracaridina and is undescribed yet. This shrimp will be named ‘Paracaridina sp. nov. Larry’ for instant. Crossbreeding with other paracaridina (like ‘Blue Bee Shrimp’) or even caridina can not be excluded. You can find his full report with photos on his website caridea.de.
Newbies often buy shrimp at their local fishdealer. What a pitty even specialized shops sell shrimp by false name. I have bought my first ‘Blue Tiger’ shrimp in in a local store at Cologne: Unfortunately, they later demasked as ‘caridina babaulti‘ – perfectly beeing kind of blue and imitating some stripes.
Shrimps offered as Larry or Hongkong Shrimps often are mixed up supplies from Singapur, Taiwanese or Chinese exporters. This shrimp could not clarely be identified with a trivial or scientific label. At present, many of them are similar to Tiger or Tuepfel shrimp. Chris Lukhaup showed some pictures of the so called ‘Camouflage Tiger’ in garnelenforum.de.
