Hawaiian red shrimp

Hawaiian red shrimp are shrimp found in Anchialine pools of Hawaii. These pools are near the sea and are often a mixture of fresh and salt water. This half inch red shrimp are often called super shrimp, for their long age and excellent survivability. While a normal shrimp, at best, might expect three years, Hawaiian red shrimp can carry on to 20. They can survive in a variety of temperatures and salinities.

Courtesy of Arizona Inverts

There long age puzzles scientists, a general rule in nature is that the smaller an animal the shorter its life, yet this little shrimp outlives many animals many times its size.

These little shrimp eat mainly algae and bacteria which grow in its environment; there are very few, if any, predators in the pools that these shrimp inhabit.

These shrimp are often kept as low maintenance pets, often in small tanks and fed with powdered algae. Unfortunately, they are often kept in ecospheres that claim to be a balanced mini aquarium but actually are jars full of pee. These ecospheres shorten the shrimp’s lives to three years.

From Ecosphere Associates, Inc