Raising and Breeding Lysmata wurdemanni

Raising and Breeding
Lysmata wurdemanni
By: Olivia Davie, Celia Schwarz and Reagan Williams
Taxonomic Classification
Order: Decapoda
Family: Hippolytidae
Genus: Lysmata
Species: Lysmata wurdemani
Introduction and Background
The focus of our research was to raise and breed peppermint shrimp larvae. We planned to
adjust their living situation in order to create a good breeding space.
-It took a while for the shipment of shrimp to arrive, which made our project get off
to a late start. Once they finally got there, we had to wait an additional few weeks
for them to be quarantined in the Quarantine Tank.
-Once we transferred them to our tank, we discovered that the Peppermint Shrimp
are very calm creatures and were easy to take care of. They reproduce regularly,
specifically after molting, although we never saw the molting occur. They were very
shy at first but soon became accustomed to us.
Quarantine Tank
Figure 2: Bird’s eye view of the
quarantine tank
Figure 1: Shrimp in the
quarantine tank sitting in
seaweed
Figure 3: Moving day!
Questions
In our proposal, we came up with some research questions in order to help us gather
information that would help us successfully breed them.
1)
What factors may interfere with the reproduction of the L.Wurdemanni? When
they were stressed (when they first arrived in quarantine) they did not breed
or interact with us.
2)
What encourages reproduction? Keeping steady temperatures and feeding
schedule encourages reproduction.
Questions (cont…)
3) Do the size of tank, layout of the tank, or amount of items in tank affect the
reproduction? We found that when they were in the empty quarantine tank, the
shrimp were stressed and hid most of the time. Once they moved to Tank 3, with
plenty of rocks and coral that would provide hiding places, they became less
nervous and started reproducing.
4) What can we do and what has not been done to encourage the L. wurdemanni to
reproduce? We found that the best way to encourage reproduction is to keep
stable parameters in order to make sure they are not stressed.
Questions (cont…)
5) If they reproduce, how will we prevent the other inhabitants of the tank from
consuming the larvae? There were no other inhabitants in the tank except the
worms. We do not know if the worms would eat the shrimp, as we kept them in the
larvae catcher to prevent them from sinking and being sucked into the filter.
6) What is the best way to keep the shrimp larvae alive and healthy? The shrimp
larvae should be fed daily with a mixture of algae/sea monkeys. The big problem is
that the larval catcher was not effective. Finding an appropriate place for them to
be kept is necessary in order to keep the larvae alive.
Hypothesis
By adjusting the L. wurdemanni’ feeding schedules and tank parameters such as
temperature, layout, etc, we will successfully be able to breed and raise these
shrimp.
Figure 4: Shrimp resting on rock
Figure 5: Overall View of Tank #3
Methods
-
-
-
-
Once the shrimp were finally transferred from quarantine to tank #3, we left
the layout the way it was. The shrimp were able to find good hiding spots and
they rarely came out unless we fed them.
Over the year, we changed the layout of the tank to be more open so that we
could see the shrimp when they were not being fed. We found this layout to
work the best and kept it like this for the remainder of the year.
With this layout, we could keep a better eye on them and would not have to
rearrange the tank layout again. Rearranging many times could cause stress and
would therefore decrease their likelihood of reproducing.
This layout proved to be successful and by the end of January one of our
shrimps was holding eggs!
Methods (cont…)
-
The temperature and water quality were kept stable in order to keep the
shrimp unstressed and speed up the breeding process.
-
We quickly learned that the best way to help the shrimp reproduce was to leave
them alone and not change the layout of the tank.
-
When we noticed the shrimp were holding eggs, we installed the larvae catcher
with a bubbler to make their journey safer and to increase their likelihood of
survival.
Graph 1: Amount of Shrimp Per Quadrant
Q1
Q2
M
Q3
Q4
Figure 7: Graph of Frequency of Shrimp in Quadrants
Figure 6: Quadrant Layout
Graph 2: Shrimp Behavior and Location
Figure 8: Shrimp Upside Down
Figure 9: Graph of Shrimp Behavior/Location
The shrimp were swaying most of the time and we
found that swaying helps them to breath. The shrimp
also liked to hang upside down under the rocks.
Results
The shrimp ended up breeding but we do not think it was because of anything we
did/did not do. Throughout the year, we kept their living conditions stable and
constant so they would not become stressed and would get used to us as well as the
interns feeding them or anyone around the tank. From our research, we have
discovered that feeding the shrimp twice a day would produce strong larvae.
Video: Shrimp Larvae Under Microscope!
Figure 10: Video of Shrimp Larvae Under a Microscope
Complications
The biggest difficulty was keeping the shrimp alive
when they hatched in the larvae catcher. The first
group of babies did not survive for very long. The
second group survived longer and got larger than
the first group. Because they were bigger, we
attempted to put in a floating net cage, but the
larvae sank to the bottom so their survival is
uncertain. The remaining shrimp in the catcher
were sucked out because the tubing became
unattached. Regarding their training, the shrimp got
used to us fairly quickly. The shrimp were extremely
shy at first and hid all the time, but as the year
progressed, they became more outgoing and would
jump onto anything we stuck in the tank.
Figure 11: Net Larval Catcher
Discussion
At the beginning of the year, we hypothesized that by
adjusting a the feeding schedule and tank parameters,
the shrimp would then successfully reproduce. Over
the course of this year, our data and experimentation
proves our hypothesis to be correct.
A consistent schedule helped the shrimp to become
less timid and eventually comfortable enough to
reproduce regularly. We fed the shrimp only in the
afternoons so that they would grow used to people
being around them.
Figure 12: Shrimp Swaying Upside Down
Discussion (cont…)
When we first transferred the shrimp into their new tank, they rarely came out.
As time progressed, the shrimp would venture out whenever we neared the tank. At
first they were a little timid but then they became more outgoing and would jump
onto our hands when we placed them in the water. We found that there was no
certain way to “train” the shrimp, which we were not aware of in our proposal. The
best thing to do was keep all the variables in their life constant. Many books such as
How to Raise and Train Your Shrimp recommended to feed the shrimp multiple times a
day so that they would produce healthy larvae.
Video: Cleaning Hands
Figure 13: Video of shrimp cleaning our hands
Discussion (cont…)
Regarding larvae, a shrimp was first seen with eggs on January 22 and hatched soon
after. Due to lack of food, the first set of larvae died. A few weeks later, the second
set of larvae hatched and some died because of equipment malfunction. The air tube
became unhooked when we were not at school and sucked the larvae out. We tried
to put the remaining shrimp larvae in a more secure mesh net system. However, it
was difficult to tell if they fell through the holes or were just floating on the bottom.
Conclusions
After completing our year long research, we concluded a few things about our
peppermint shrimp. We learned that in order to successfully breed the shrimp, it
was crucial to maintain stable living conditions so that they feel as comfortable and
relaxed as possible. We discovered that the shrimp did better with an open tank
layout and preferred to be fed in the afternoon. We also realized that the shrimp
reproduce quite often once they have fully adjusted to their tank.
What Could We Have Done Better?
If we were to repeat our experiments, we could have done a lot differently in order
to have more successful outcomes. We should have made a more concise
observation table to fill out each day. This way, we could have clear information, and
when looking back at our observations from prior months, easily interpret the data.
Also, to make our research more complete, we could have investigated what certain
shrimp behavior means in order to figure out if they are breeding or not.
If We Continued…
If we were to continue this we would definitely try to find a better way to house the
larvae. We probably could have kept them alive in the catcher until they got bigger
and then moved them, but the issues with tubing/cleaning got in the way. We would
also want to successfully raise the baby peppermint shrimp to be healthy adult
shrimp.
We suggest that next year’s class looks into training the shrimp to do other things
besides just cleaning our hands.
Overall Concepts Tested
Over the year, we tested many variables of the tank so that we could figure out what
environment would be best for the shrimp reproduction.
This includes: what tank layout would be the best fit for the shrimp, how much food
and how often should we feed the shrimp.
We also tested two ways of holding the larvae; the larvae catcher and mesh holder.
Neither of them successfully kept the larvae alive.
Application of Results
Our project is very valuable to
furthering scientific research that wants
to see what the best environment would
be for the shrimp to reproduce. We
concluded that there was no need to
switch around the habitat, the shrimp
only needed time. Future scientists can
apply our results to further examination
of these creatures.
Bibliography
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__https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19419-zoologger-shrimp-plays-chicken-with-its-sex-change/__
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10. Riley, C.M., 1994. Captive Spawning and Rearing of the Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni). Seascope, Summer.
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