Red Cherry Shrimp Information

The Red Cherry Shrimp, Neocaridina heteropoda (formerly Neocaridina denticulata sinensis) , is a variant of the wild form of the Neocaridina heteropoda. In the wild it exhibits a verity of colors ranging from a clear brown to an almost blue color. The Red variant is not found in the wild because it would be easy prey for any invertebrate predator.

Native to Southeast Asia, mostly China, Taiwan and Northern Vietnam, the Red Cherry Shrimp has slowly found popularity in the aquarium trade over time. Sadly, in Hawaii, many Red Cherry Shrimp have been introduced to the wild waters and have built a sizeable population there. In Hawaii Neocaridina heteropoda are considered pests.

Takashi Amano introduced the freshwater aquarium hobby to dwarf shrimp in the mid 90’s. In his Natural Aquarium book he discusses the benefits of an algae eating shrimp in the aquarium and discusses in depth the Cardidina japonica (Amano Shrimp). The Amano Shrimp became popular in America following this book and in the early 2000’s the Red Cherry Shrimp began to appear.

Most Red Cherry Shrimp in The United States are raised and sold or traded by aquarium hobbyist. There are a few commercial sellers of Red Cherry Shrimp and as the market for this shrimp grows the commercial business will as well. A few local fish stores do offer imported shrimp, but there are a few problems associated with imported Red Cherry Shrimp.

Most imported Red Cherry Shrimp are females of unknown age. Although ALL Red Cherry Shrimp are captive bred, female shrimp are more colorful and larger, so exporters only sell females. The females demand a higher selling point due to size and color! It is near impossible to tell the age of a full grown shrimp, and with the relatively short life span of cherry red shrimp (about 1.5 years), it is not recommended to buy imported Red Cherry Shrimp.