# Temasek shrimp - help with info needed



## Nat N (Jun 6, 2010)

Hi everybody,
I hope somebody will be able to help with the info on Temasek shrimps. One of the shops in my area (small independent retailer stocking more interesting fish & shrimps) now has them for sale. I tried to find the information about them on the internet but there is not much. I noticed they have predatory claws though. Are they peaceful? Aggressive? Can they be in a community tank? What is their staple diet? And what is their scientific name? 
Thanks very much in advance.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Macro, cardinia I think from SE Asia.
Standard shrimp food is fine, algae etc. 
Normal shrimp diet.

Rare to find them. Where are you located Nat, and what are their prices?

No to the community tank, they'll be fish food!

-Gordon


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## Nat N (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks Gordon.
I am in the UK - North East. Now, I have some update. I have actually bought 5 of them on impulse today - the shop told me they were very rare, so I grabbed 5 for 12 pounds (otherwise 3 pounds each). I brought them home and put them in a 20 litres tank which currently has only one HM betta and two Amanos. Within munites they gathered together around Neo (the betta) and were stretching their "paws" at him. It was only then I realized they had small but nevertheless claws! I promptly caught them again (was surprisingly easy). They are in my big tank now - in a fish hatcher, so separated from the tank. 
What you said made me thinking - I checked various pictures of shrimps online again a minute ago and now am positive they are NOT Temasek shrimps. They are predatory Machrobrachium Lanchesteri. They will go back to the shop tomorrow, together with a printed image from the net and the description printed from the UK Shrimp Society page... Such a disappointment... and silly me...
I think Neo has to thank you for help with the identification - and saving him from being harassed. I am soooo glad I did not put them in a big tank - would be impossible to catch them among the plants there!
I will write tomorrow to tell what the shop said.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Good luck with your return. State side in USA we don't have access to Temasek yet. Still rare but one of the larger importers down in Florida had them on his list. Not like he has access to shrimp all the time but eh.


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## Nat N (Jun 6, 2010)

An update.
Well, it was not difficult at all to exchange the false Temasek to Amanos - if anything, the exchange meant I paid less for the Amano ones. They were very easy about it - maybe because I am a regular customer and they are not the closest shop (they know I do some extra mileage to get to them). However, we had an interesting discussion. I printed out the description from the UK Shrimp society page about the shrimps I mistakenly bought and another page from an online UK retailer I found who offers Temasek as Caridina species (6 for 10 ponds plus postage). The owner of the shop I spoke to agreed that the shrimp I bought had a mistaken identity but disagreed that Temasek are Caridina. He said he believes that Temasek should be fan feeders... 
It does prove that there is a lot of confusion in what Temasek shrimps really are... I am happy now that my tanks are back to peaceful existence of inhabitants but what to know more about Temasek now - and possibly get some!
As it seems some species have different names in the States and in the UK, it is an interesting subject to investigate. The owner of the shop said that suppliers tend to call shrimp Temasek mistakenly as they use the region name quite freely. I am guessing the best option would be if there was somebody on this forum from Singapore who could give exact information...
Gordon, please, let me know when and if you can get hold of them in the USA and what they really are...


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