Cherry Shrimp

Neocaridina davidi

Cherry shrimp are the red aquarium form of Neocaridina davidi, a small freshwater dwarf shrimp species from East Asia. Wild-type Neocaridina are usually transparent, brown, or mottled, but selective breeding has produced red cherry, fire red, painted fire red, and many other color lines. Females tend to be larger and deeper in color than males, and mature females carry eggs under the abdomen until the young hatch as miniature shrimp rather than free-floating larvae.

Aquarists keep cherry shrimp in planted tanks, nano aquaria, and breeding colonies where they graze on biofilm, algae, and leftover fine foods. Stable, fully cycled water matters more than chasing exact numbers, and copper-based medications can be dangerous to them. They breed readily when kept away from fish large enough to eat shrimplets. Color strains should be housed separately if the goal is to maintain a line, because mixing varieties often produces duller wild-type offspring over time.