What type of shrimp is it? Shrimp crustacean

The commercial shrimp or chilim or shrimp, unlike their fellow decapods, have adapted to life in the water column. This affected the structure of the shrimp.

The shrimp has an elongated body, while it is flattened on the sides. The body is divided into 2 main sections - the abdomen and the cephalothorax, which is almost half the length of the body.

At the beginning of the cephalothorax shell there is a pair of compound eyes located in special recesses.

Each eye is formed from a large number of facets, and their number increases with age. Facets separate age spots from each other. Each facet perceives only those rays that fall perpendicular to the cornea. Some facets see only a small part of the object that the shrimp is looking at, and the remaining parts are seen by other facets. That is, shrimp have mosaic vision. At night, the pigments diverge to the bases of the eyes, due to which oblique rays reach the retina, and the shrimp begins to see objects in full, but they are blurred.

The cephalothorax is protected by a durable chitinous shell, which is formed from two plates and attached to the gills. The lower part of the chitinous shell is soft and thin.

Shrimp have 19 pairs of limbs, all of which are responsible for certain actions. The antennae are used as organs of touch; with the help of the mandibles, the shrimp crushes prey, and it holds it with its jaws. Thin long legs, at the end of which small claws are located, play a special role - with the help of them, shrimp clean their bodies, they also insert these legs into the cavity of the toads and clean them if they are clogged. The remaining legs are used to move along the ground; they are longer and thicker in size than the other legs. The abdominal limbs are used during swimming.

It is interesting to monitor the behavior of shrimp while snorkeling in the warm waters of the Sea of ​​Japan. If you move the lush algae, the shrimp begin to jump out of them, like grasshoppers in a meadow.

It has a wide and strong caudal fin. Shrims bends him sharply and moves with thrusts. When the shrimp stops, it straightens its small oar legs under its tail and begins to quickly move them, swimming between the algae. In this case, the pectoral legs and antennae are pressed to the body. When a shrimp lands on algae and freezes, it moves its long antennae to the sides.

Chilims have orange legs. The eyes are violet. When the sun's rays pass through the shrimp's body, it shines through and gives off an emerald tint. The chilim reaches 18 centimeters in length. There are dark stripes along the body that serve to camouflage the shrimp among marine plants. Only when you get close can you notice the shrimp.

If you lure a shrimp with a piece of meat or fish, they gather in small groups near the prey. At the slightest movement, they jump to the sides, while swimming away backwards, sharply bending their abdomen and pushing off the water with their caudal fin and abdominal legs.

What do shrimp eat?

The shrimp diet consists not only of animal food (plankton), but also algae and soil. A large number of shrimp accumulate near fishing nets, and they eat the fish so quickly that if the fishermen do not get the net in time, they will be left with only naked skeletons.

They find food using their senses of touch and smell. If a shrimp loses its eyes, then it can find prey in 4-5 minutes, and if the first pair of antennae is lost, this time increases to 20 minutes; if both pairs of antennae are lost, the shrimp find prey even longer, while they use the toes of walking legs and bristles of the oral appendages, characterized by high sensitivity.

Far Eastern shrimp

Shrimp are bisexual organisms, but their female and male gonads form at different times. When sexual maturity occurs, the shrimp first transforms into a male, and in the third year of life it transforms into a female. Females glue eggs to the hairs of the abdominal legs and carry them with them until larvae emerge from them.

Palemon shrimp

Shrimp are fished in the seas Pacific Ocean, in the Atlantic and northern seas. These are the most sought after commercial creatures; up to a million tons of shrimp are caught annually.

This amazing creature has many names, the most famous of which are Macrobrachium Rosenberg, giant river shrimp and long-armed shrimp. Experts say that her meat is very tasty. And we tend to believe them. It is not for nothing that many farms have been built in southeast Asia, in other countries and even in the south of Russia, where these arthropods are bred for sale. In addition, Macrobrachium rosenbergii can become a very interesting object for display in an aquarium. They have a rather unusual appearance and habits. Read our article about how to properly keep giant freshwater shrimp in your home pond.

The areas of its distribution in nature are India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Northern Australia, the Philippines and New Guinea. Adult shrimp can be found there most often in fresh, quiet, heavily overgrown reservoirs, the bottom of which is lined with sand and stones, and littered with snags. The temperature in them, depending on the season, ranges from 24 to 32 °C. When it's time to spawn, they migrate to lower rivers or estuaries, where the water is saltier.

What does a Rosenberg shrimp look like?

The sizes of these creatures are quite large, females are approximately 28 cm, and males are 32 cm. The weight of the latter can reach 250 g, and they also have large, long, coal-colored claws. Sometimes the right and left are different sizes.

Equipment: filter, dim lighting. The current should not be strong. Daylight hours are 12 hours.

Priming. You can put dark-colored river sand with a fraction of 2-4 mm on the bottom. The surface should not be flat. Terraces and depressions are welcome.

Shelters and decor. The giant Vietnamese shrimp grows very quickly and therefore sheds often. During this period, she is extremely defenseless and can easily be eaten by her relatives. To protect it, you need to arrange a sufficient number of shelters. These can be snags, thickets, stone piles, grottoes, ceramic pipes.

Flora. It is better not to use live aquarium plants. They will be eaten. You can try planting “tasteless” cryptocoryne or ophiopogon, while feeding the shrimp with pre-scalded lettuce, dandelion, burdock, and nettle. If this does not help, then there is only one way out - to decorate the aquarium with artificial plants. It is better to place them in dense groups.

Our pets adapt quite quickly and can adapt to life under other conditions. However, if these recommendations are followed, the living conditions will be as close as possible to natural ones, and the shrimp will live longer (4-5 years).

What to feed giant freshwater shrimp

Suitable for both animal and plant food. From live food, you can give tubifex, bloodworms, coretra, cyclops and large daphnia. From time to time it is advisable to treat amphibian larvae, mollusks, and live fish. Seafood (squid, mussels, haddock, pollock, cod fillet and others) will also be used. Of course, everything must be pre-chopped. From the vegetation it will be useful to feed scalded nettles, spinach and burdock. Sometimes you can give artificial fish food like Tetra and the like.

Feed is supplied as needed when the previous one is completely destroyed. If you leave it to sit for a long time, the water may deteriorate.

Is it possible to obtain offspring in captivity?

Overall this is not a difficult task. But! Water for breeding should be brackish.

Sexual maturity occurs at 4-5 months of age. Manufacturers must be in good physical condition, active, without damage or disease.

Preparation period. Females are placed in a container with a temperature of 22 °C. They are kept there for three weeks. Next, the temperature is increased to 28-29 °C for three days. All shrimp are given food in abundance. It is better to use live food, as well as artificial food, which contains at least 30% protein (for sturgeon and salmon).

For reproduction, a male and three to four females are placed in one container. After mating and spawning, the females take care of the eggs: ventilate them and remove dead ones.

Larval stage– the most difficult in the development of shrimp. It is characterized by a very high mortality rate. It is extremely important to control all water parameters:

• temperature 27-29 °C;
• salinity 12% (ppm);
• oxygen 5 g/l;
• acidity 8-8.2 pH;
• nitrites 0.1 g/l;
• other nitrogen compounds 0.001 g/l;
• illumination 4000 lux;
• daylight hours 12 hours.

Larval development consists of 12 stages. Each lasts approximately three days and ends with a moult.

Feeding begins on the second day, preferably fresh nauplii of arrhythmia. From the fifth day you can add the yolk of a boiled egg and minced fish.

Next comes the transformation into postlarvae. Also with rapid growth and frequent molts, the number of which decreases as they grow. Postlarvae are transplanted into a container with reduced salinity (6 o/oo). They begin to lead a bottom-dwelling lifestyle. The diet can be supplemented with boiled vegetables and cereals.

Juveniles can be kept in community aquariums with fish and other small shrimp. But when their size reaches 5 cm, it is better to plant them, as they will become dangerous to others. It is also better to immediately separate parents from young people to avoid cannibalism.

This is interesting

The giant oriental Rosenberg shrimp is considered one of the most delicious, which is why in many countries and even in Russia they are bred for gastronomic purposes. In Thailand, this matter is completely on stream. Treating yourself to such a shrimp is not a cheap pleasure: one piece costs about 15-20 euros. They are transported live (in special cars or boxes with wet moss) or frozen.

In conclusion, we note that keeping, and even more so breeding, giant freshwater shrimp is not an entirely simple matter, but it is very interesting. That’s why if you have some experience in aquarium keeping, and most importantly, a desire, then go for it. You will definitely succeed!

Shrimps(from lat. Caridea) belong to the infraorder Crustaceans, a type of arthropod. They are common in the seas of almost the entire world, and some types of shrimp also live in freshwater bodies. Different types of shrimp differ in size from each other. So, an adult can be only 2 cm in length, but can reach 30 cm.

Shrimp are low in calories: 100 g contains only 94.5 kcal. However, they are very nutritious due to their high protein content. Their composition is so rich and varied that to maintain good health and vigor, it is enough to eat only a handful of this seafood.

Origin

As mentioned above, shrimp are freshwater and marine, but by their origin they all come from the World Ocean. Most shrimp live in equatorial zone, which gives reason to assume that this is where their real homeland is. The further from the equator in both directions, the fewer species of shrimp and other crustaceans.

Shrimp are creatures of different sexes: females are larger, they have a wide tail and convex sides. When the female reaches puberty, eggs appear under the tail; the smell of their pheromones attracts males, who fertilize these eggs. After 4-6 weeks, larvae are born, which have to go through about 12 more instar stages before turning into adults.

The nutritional value

Shrimp is called one of the most healthy products nutrition. The concentration of vitamins and microelements in shrimp is 50 (!) times higher than in meat, and their composition is truly diverse.

Thus, shrimp contain a lot of potassium, calcium, zinc, iodine, sulfur, phosphorus, as well as Omega-3 polyunsaturated acid. This seafood is also rich in vitamins: E, C, PP, A, H, B vitamins. By the way, a large amount of vitamin B12 contained in shrimp promotes the production of hemoglobin and nourishes nervous system. In addition, eating shrimp is very important when losing weight: the product contains practically no sugar and fat, but at the same time it perfectly satisfies hunger due to its high protein content.

Use in cooking

Most often, shrimp are added to salads, soups, pastas and risotto; this seafood is also included in some sauces. King and tiger prawns are sometimes served as independent dishes: for example, in the form of kebabs or simply fried in a frying pan. As a rule, such shrimps are not consumed boiled: their meat becomes “rubbery” and almost tasteless.

Small shrimp, on the contrary, are delicious when cooked. They are cooked in boiling salted water with the addition of dill, parsley, cumin, bay leaf or pepper until the shrimp float to the surface of the water (about 3-5 minutes). To make the shrimp more juicy and tasty, you can leave them in the broth for 10-15 minutes after cooking.

Application in medicine and cosmetology

Due to the content of a large number of minerals, trace elements and nutrients Shrimp help the human body to grow and develop correctly and fully. If you eat this product regularly, the likelihood of colds and respiratory diseases is reduced, immunity is increased, and the risk of allergies is reduced. In addition, eating shrimp is recommended for people with cancer.

Contraindications

Shrimp are considered such a safe product that they have virtually no contraindications. This healthy seafood can be given even to children. However, we should not forget about such a phenomenon as an allergy to seafood. Unfortunately, you shouldn’t eat shrimp in this case either.

Interesting Facts
It is important to know how to choose the right shrimp. In this case, it is necessary first of all
pay attention to them appearance. Seafood tends to change color
when temperature changes. Therefore, if you see pale pink shrimp in front of you
color, it is likely that they were thawed and re-frozen.
Of course, in this case the product loses all its beneficial properties.

Pay attention to the color of the shrimp heads. Green heads should not cause concern:
this color only indicates that the shrimp fed on plankton. Here are the black shades
shrimp heads should make you wary: most likely, this is of poor quality
goods that have been in a defrosted state for a long time.

We eat this sea ​​creature, and what do we know about him? Today we will tell you how he lives shrimp in the depths of the sea, where it lives, what species exist and much more.

Description of shrimp

Shrimp is a mollusk belonging to the decapod crayfish, with a body length of only 10-12 cm (a maximum of some individuals reach 30 cm) with a body weight of 20 grams. Life cycle of a shrimp varies from 1.5 to 6 years.

Did you know that the mollusk is a unique creature? These creatures are able to shed their shell, replacing it with a new one. But the most interesting thing is that the sea creature’s heart and genitals are located in the head area, where the digestive and urinary organs are also located! Like all crustaceans and fish, the shrimp is breathing with the help of gills, which are located next to the walking legs and are protected by a shell. By the way, no matter how surprising it may be, in normal condition the blood of a shrimp is blue! And only from a lack of oxygen does it become discolored. These creatures live in almost any body of water in the world, except for the Arctic and Antarctica, focusing on areas of the equator.

Types of shrimp

Scientists identify more than 2,000 species, which they divided into subspecies:

1. Freshwater

2. Cold water

3. Warm water

4. Brackish water

HABITAT, REPRODUCTION AND NUTRITION OF SHRIMP

Shrimp habitat

Did you know what exactly shrimp play an important role in the ecosystem of seas and oceans? These small creatures clean the bottom of reservoirs from various tubifex worms, fish and aquatic insects. Looking for food sea ​​creature leads a fairly active lifestyle, constantly moving around bodies of water. Small cleaners cleanse the body of dead brethren and small algae, sometimes attacking large fish, but only sleeping or sick ones.

Of course, everyone species of shrimp lives in different places. Warm water, for example, live only in the southern oceans and seas, and there are about a hundred species of them. Cold water found in the Baltic and North Seas, in the Barents Sea, near the coasts of Canada and Greenland. By the way, this is one of the most common types of shrimp. You probably already realized that brackish water mollusks are inhabitants of salty seas and oceans. Freshwater They also live in Russia, Australia, and the countries of South and South-East Asia. Chilean inhabit the South American coasts, the Black, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, and our beloved king prawns in the Atlantic Ocean.

What do shrimp eat?

Basis of shellfish nutrition – organic matter and endangered aquatic plants. Among plants, preference is given to succulent varieties, such as ceratopteris. These creatures resemble scavengers who will not disdain to feast on dead shellfish and even young fish. In shrimp There are organs of touch and smell that perfectly help in finding food - these are kind of antennas on the head. Residents closer to the equator even dig up the soil in search, running around the perimeter until they stumble upon food. As soon as mollusk found what he was looking for, he instantly and greedily pounces on food. And only blind individuals of the Black Sea eat silt with their mandibles (jaws), and cold-water ones with pure plankton.

At home, we can add to the diet animal dandelion and clover leaves, cucumbers, boiled carrots, zucchini, walnuts, chestnuts, cherries.

Shrimp breeding

As soon as the female is ready to lay eggs, she secretes a yellow-green mass with a specific smell, to which the males flock like bees to honey. Once the couple has chosen each other, they begin mate, which lasts no more than a minute. One female can lay 20-30 eggs, which develop from 10 to 30 days, depending on environment. During the moment of formation, the shrimp in the caviar changes from 9 to 12 times! First, the legs are formed, and only then the head with all the organs located there. About 10% of the young animals die from predators, but in the aquarium you will be able to save 30%. And all because they are not able to obtain food, eating only the available food.

VIDEO: ABOUT PRAWNS

IN THIS VIDEO YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT HOW THEY ACTUALLY HARVEST PRAWNS FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA

Shrimp are an infraorder of crustaceans from the order Decapods. Widely distributed throughout the seas of the whole world, many species have mastered fresh waters.

Adult size different representatives varies from 2 to 30 cm.

Most of the colorful species on the market come from China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. A large number of families and countless genera of shrimp live in the sea, some genera also inhabit fresh waters. The desire to obtain more colorful forms of shrimp has resulted in numerous breeding attempts and the search for new, brightly colored species. In turn, interspecific crossings and selection work have led to the fact that shrimp with extremely bright colors can now be found on sale in pet stores.

Representatives

Structure

They have a rather complex structure, especially expressed in large quantities legs, which in shrimp perform a wide variety of functions, from movement to breathing. The shrimp's body is divided into two main parts: the cephalothorax, on which the faceted eyes and most of the limbs are located, including antennae and walking legs, and the abdominal part, on which auxiliary limbs are located that help the shrimp when swimming and bearing young.

In these animals, three anterior thoracic segments are fused with the head, five pairs of hind legs are used for movement, the forelimbs are transformed into jaws, with which they carry food to the mouth. The head and chest are protected by the carapace, the gills are hidden under its edges. The limbs of the last segment of the abdomen have changed into wide plates that form a tail fan, thanks to which the shrimp can make sharp jumping swimming movements. The oral apparatus consists of well-developed jaws (mandibles) used for grinding food. The blade located on the jaws ensures the movement of water in the gills. The anterior end of the carapace is extended into a sharp awl-shaped rostrum (beak or nose). The abdominal legs (pleopods) are used for swimming, and in females, for bearing offspring. In males, the first pair of abdominal legs has transformed into a copulatory organ.

The eyes of shrimps are stalked and can turn in different directions, which provides a wide view. In search of food and shelter, shrimp use not so much vision as smell, touch and the “chemical sense”. These functions are performed by antennae. At the base of the antennae there is an organ of balance - a statocyst.

Conditions of detention

Shrimp molt regularly. During this time (two or three days before molting and one or two after it) they do not feed. Having freed themselves from the old shell, the shrimp take refuge in thickets of plants, under stones or in other shelters. After molting, their integument is soft, and for some time, until the shell becomes hard, the animals are defenseless. The shell is often eaten by shrimp - it contains minerals necessary for a new chitinous cover. After molting, shrimp recover damaged and lost limbs. In young people this happens faster, in adults it happens gradually, over two or three molts.

Freshwater shrimp

Freshwater aquarium shrimp are becoming increasingly popular among aquarists due to their interesting behavior and peaceful disposition. Shrimp small sizes Can be kept in small aquariums in the company of small fish.

Shrimp are very sensitive to oxygen deficiency, so the water must be aerated. They can live at temperatures from 15 to 30 °C. At 26-30 °C they are active, at 18 °C and below they become sluggish. Sharp fluctuations in water temperature in the aquarium are unacceptable.

A part of the aquarium that is densely overgrown with plants will serve as a refuge for the shrimp, and they will happily clean the snags, on which many tiny organisms usually live. The bottom soil in a shrimp aquarium should consist of gravel with a particle size of 3 to 5 mm, which allows a weak flow of water to penetrate into the soil and, accordingly, ensures good plant growth. It’s good if there is a lot of moss in the aquarium, especially Javanese. Moss provides shrimp with a large surface area from which they can eat microorganisms, and the sludge that accumulates under the moss serves as an additional source of food.

Since shrimp lead a secretive lifestyle, you can start a separate aquarium for observation and breeding - [[shrimp tank].

Sea shrimp

Marine shrimps are also cleaners and marine aquariums. They are not very aggressive. The maximum aggression they are capable of is to fight with the same shrimp using whisker swords. Many reef aquarium owners, having caught a shrimp dissecting the corpse of a dead fish or invertebrate, place all the blame on it, but this is nothing more than a misconception. Shrimp are aquarium orderlies, not killers.

Behavior

Shrimp are ideal for the aquarium. Small shrimps do not prey on fish or spoil plants, so they can be kept together with small peaceful fish species. Large fish regard small shrimp as a pleasant addition to lunch. When shrimp and fish are kept together, it is usually difficult to preserve any juvenile shrimp after the larval stage, including those that reproduce in fresh water species, since even the smallest fish readily eat the larvae.

In addition to small freshwater shrimp, large shrimp are also sold in stores. For example, Nigerian shrimp is a large filter feeder. But even such large shrimps have a peaceful disposition. However, there are exceptions, such as the Rosenberg shrimp and the chameleon shrimp.

Nutrition

Shrimp feed on a variety of food: dying aquatic plants and other organic debris, aquatic insects, polychaetes, tubifex, bloodworms, daphnia, and coretra. They also eat plants, preferring soft-leaved ones (such as ceratopteris). They eagerly eat dead fish, snails and other animals, and do not refuse dry food.

Reproduction

The process of shrimp reproduction is very interesting. As noted, in the male the anterior pleopods were transformed into a special organ - the gonopodium. Having found by smell a female who molts before mating, he uses the gonopodium to attach spermatophores (sacs with sexual fluid) at her genital opening. A young male up to 8-10 mm in size can fertilize five females, while large older individuals (15-20 mm) can fertilize only one. The time interval between mating and laying eggs is from several days to two weeks. The eggs remain hanging on the female’s pleopods until the larvae hatch. At this time, she hides in a shelter.

During the breeding season, it is better to place shrimp in a separate aquarium, where the female calmly breeds her offspring. In a community aquarium it will be eaten by fish and other shrimp. Juveniles are very different from adults. She is very sensitive to unfavorable conditions and often dies.

Crossing shrimp is possible in some cases: see the compatibility table for shrimp species.