# Amanos vs. RCS - how to tell the difference?



## ibbica (Nov 20, 2012)

OK, so that probably sounds dumb  I _know_ adult Amano shrimp are considerably bigger and relatively colourless, while red cherry shrimp are smaller and, well, red  My question isn't as silly as it sounds, honest!

I have both Amanos and RCS sharing a tank. Some of the Amanos are young and about the same size as the cherries. And a few of the cherries are nearly colourless, and were like that when I bought them (I wasn't about to be picky, they were $0.89 ). Is there a way - aside from color and size - to tell the difference between the two? (Without dissecting them or putting them under a microscope, please!)

It's no big deal, I'm just curious. I've tried to look closely at the red RCS and the Amanos and see if I could spot an anatomical difference, but I'm not exactly a shrimp expert and am not having much luck spotting any clues


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Amano's will usually have blue/brown striations along the flanks and tend to have longer antennae.

I hope that helps !

Stuart


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

Amano's will only have babies in salt water. They also like Stuart said above have markings around the belly. As they grow the amano's will get bigger than the RCS. You are welcome to come over and have a look at them if you want. I keep them in separate tanks. Just send me a PM if you would like to have a look at them.


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## trevorhoang (Oct 13, 2010)

amanoes in my experience are grey, transparent whereas RCS has a red hue to them (male) or full red (female)


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## ibbica (Nov 20, 2012)

OK so after spending lots of time watching them, I think I might have found something... time will tell, I guess, as they grow 

It seems that the Amanos have symmetrical white spots, on either side 'fin' of their tail. It seems more prominent in some than in others, but seems to be present in all of them except for one of the couple really-small-might-be-cherries shrimps. Has anyone noticed these spots in either species?

A few of my Amanos (that are _way_ too big to be RCS!) do have a rather reddish tint to their spots, but they seem to have very regular spots that are lined up nicely, where one that I think is the nearly-colorless cherry has more irregular blotching higher on his (?) back. I need to try to keep an eye on him... and hope he doesn't change too much next time he moults 

(As an aside, yeah I know newborn Amanos won't survive long in freshwater, some of the Amanos are small because I got them recently and they were small when I got them. As far as I know, I haven't generated any new babies in my tank yet... haven't seen any new babies, or even any 'berried' shrimp.)


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