# Interesting shrimp tidbit



## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Tadpole Shrimp have the distinction of having populated the planet for 220 MILLION years -- dating from the Triassic period -- and were found happily swimming around in a pond in Scotland (it was thought they had gone extinct). This 'living fossil' has remained unchanged for that 220 million years! Interestingly enough, it is inedible.  (taken from Best Friends Magazine, September/October 2005 edition).


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Are you sure they haven't been around for a little more than 220 years?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

220 years? They're just newborns of evolution.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

heh...sorry Cavan and Left C...that's 220 MILLION years.... I'll go edit! (tough crowd, sheesh!)


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/i...freshwater/Triops_cancriformis/more_info.html

Ok, here's a link and a picture. Scientific name: Triops cancriformis


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## richy (Nov 8, 2004)

It looks nothing like a tadpole.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

nah, looks like a horseshoe crab, really. Not sure who thought it looks like a tadpole!


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## e.lark (May 5, 2005)

I bought some Triops that were packaged just like Sea Monkeys. I never went through hatching them. I wonder how they would take to a planted tank?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

horseshoe crab tadpoles [smilie=h:


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## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

Lol


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

e.lark said:


> I bought some Triops that were packaged just like Sea Monkeys. I never went through hatching them. I wonder how they would take to a planted tank?


I did the sea monkey thing when I was a kid. You could call it sort of a childhood disappointment....

Well, that's sort of a cute little creature PG...


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Thanks for pic link PG. That's quite an interesting looking critter. I do wonder if there's any relation to horseshoe crabs.


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## fishmaster#1 (Apr 10, 2005)

I found these at walmart for like $12. They come in a kit too. Can I add these things to a planted shrimp tank?


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I really can't say as I haven't kept the sea monkeys or triops. My gut feeling is that I would not, however.


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## Safado (Aug 4, 2005)

fishmaster#1 said:


> I found these at walmart for like $12. They come in a kit too. Can I add these things to a planted shrimp tank?


I think it depends on what you mean by "can." From what I have read, they will live, but are great little hunters. They will eat anything they can get a hold of. I would not keep them in a shrimp tank, because they will kill all of your shrimp. They will then likely turn on themselves until only one is left.


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## fishmaster#1 (Apr 10, 2005)

Ohhh That's not good at all. I am glad I left them at walmart then. Thanks


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## Veneer (Jun 12, 2005)

While both Triops and horseshoe crabs are arthropods, all 4 extant species of horseshoe "crabs" (more closely related, in fact, to spiders), the last living members of the class Merostomata (of the subphylum Chelicerata), belong to the Limulidae, the sole family of the order Xiphosura. Triops (literally, "three eyes"), on the other hand, while not actually shrimp, are true crustaceans, of the class Branchiopoda and the order Notostraca (with a single family, the Triopsidae, and two genera therein).

A few clarifications: the Notostraca, speaking collectively, have existed for well over 220 m.y. - it is _Triops cancriformis_ in particular that distinguishes itself as probably the oldest individual species on earth. As to the matter of edibility, I believe certain American Indian tribes of SW North America (and assuredly various other peoples as well) traditionally consumed sun-dried triops, as might be gathered from temporary desert pools.

A considerable body of information as regards the fascinating life history (be certain to look into their practice of "suspended animation" by way of diapause as well as their bewildering diversity of inter-species reproductive modes - one of which, notably, is hermaphroditic parthenogenesis).

As to the suitability of Triops in planted aquaria: it is generally only when poorly fed that they will begin to consume live vegetation, smaller tankmates, or each other (a difficulty largely allayed by avoidance of overcrowded conditions).

*Further Information*:

- http://www.mytriops.com/

Links to aquarist accounts to come.


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## Veneer (Jun 12, 2005)

fishmaster#1 said:


> I found these at walmart for like $12. They come in a kit too. Can I add these things to a planted shrimp tank?


From another forum: "Bizzare But Great Tank Addition".


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

WOW!
My daughter has these. They live just like Killies. Thier eggs I mean in pools thatd ry out and then when water comes they hatch.
I was under the impression that they need stagnant water to survive.
Ian


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

but they are hemamphorditic. so whats the chance i would end up with thousands, or thousands of eggs that not properly dried would foul things?


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