Thamnocephalus - beaver-tailed fairy shrimp

I collected these strange fairy shrimp (I am assuming they are a species of _Thamnocephalus_) today in a shallow, mud-bottomed, seasonal pond near Portales, New Mexico. Both sexes are represented: females with visible egg sacs and long antennae, and males with large heads and shorter antennae. Note the paddle-shaped telson - hence the common name! The largest individuals are approximately 2.25 inches (about 5 cm).

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Arthropoda
• Crustacea
• Anostraca
• fairy
• shrimp

[kyuri87]

Holy crow, 5 cm?! Darn it, I wish I could just take a walk to a seasonal pond and get some beavertails... But unfortunately they're no indigenous species. So I'll order some. Soon.

[beetledude63]

OK, I think I might have stretched the truth a bit...perhaps 3.5 cm. Still pretty cool!

[PrimevalShrimp]

Branchinetca gigas gro up to 3-4 inches, in this german and english primeval shrimp forum is a breeding report over this speizies in german:

h t t p doubbeldot//wwwdoturzeit-krebs­edotcom/de/forum/38-Aufzuchtbe­richte--Berichte/10895-Adri-vs­-Branchinecta-gigas

You have to use a . instead of the dot and a : instedad of the doubbel dot.

[Pieishman]

ps where did you buy these?

[Pieishman]

5 cm? More like 3 or 4. The only 5cm long fairy shrimp is Branchinecta gigas, but theyre pretty freaking expensive.