Large Fairy Shrimp swimming (Crustacea: Anostraca)

[WoodedWanderer]

Thanks @HamatoKameko

I was lucky that it was windy, and thus no birds calling to distract me from peering into puddles on the ground :-}

[HamatoKameko]

What a find! I've never had the opportunity to see the giant species in person, but I hope I have your luck some day. They're beautiful!

[WoodedWanderer]

Yeah, but you can't buy these species! I just got confirmation from Ehab Eid, a biologist with the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature, that the large green one is Branchinecta ferrox. The second species is unclear, but could be Cyzicus tetracerus. These are more rare than the "usual" Artemia spp.

[jesmmifs]

They're both male shrimps. You can see the large antennas on the red one as well. They use them to clasp the female while they're mating. Beautiful creatures. You can buy fairy shrimp eggs from eBay.