# lawn shrimp



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Anyone experiment with these. They are a species of terrestrial amphipod. I've captured a few and they are alive and doing well...can't tell if they are reproducing but they should be similar to terrestrial isopods in culture. I don't have any captive reared ones to feed my darts yet but a friend offers them to his young pacific treefrogs which attack them ravenously. They jump all around when first added to the tank and illicit a great feeding response.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

Sounds promising. Are you trying to culture them, and how?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I remember an old thread where somebody tried culturing those. I can't remember the details. I can't find the original thread, but here is a little something. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/61705-amphipods.html


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

I found this: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/ot...hipods-scuds-side-swimmers-amphibian-rep.html


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Pumilo said:


> I remember an old thread where somebody tried culturing those. I can't remember the details. I can't find the original thread, but here is a little something. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/61705-amphipods.html


that was Mark Budde's tank. His imitators loved them


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

Mark never cultured them separately, though. The amphipods were part of the tank's microfauna.


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## oddlot (Jun 28, 2010)

Any updates?I have some available to me and from what I understand they are supposed to be easy to raise and breed.The key is they have to be kept pretty wet.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

That's pretty cool I never heard of those before.

Do they occur only in California?


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Mine are alive...they do need to be kept very damp-more so than isopods. They are also very frustrating to move around-the species I have are the size of rice grains, but can jump over 1 ft each way! Luckily they tend to rocket forward so they can be contained in a taller than wide container.

I wouldn't be surprised if they occur elsewhere but they are a common occurence in coastal CA.

So far I've stuck a few in a Budde jar and left them alone. Not even sure if these are still alive-I will inspect them next week. I have some others just in the soil they were collected in. No signs of breeding yet.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

how productive are they? Are they legal to ship across state lines?


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

Are we talking about amphipods? 

Thames Explorer Trust - Thames Resources -; Freshwater*shrimps

Most amphipods are aquatic, but could probably be found on a wet lawn. I have thousands of them in my marine tanks.


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## toksyn (Mar 5, 2011)

They are in Florida as well. I tried capturing some for the purpose of breeding them but let them dry out on accident.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

toksyn said:


> They are in Florida as well. I tried capturing some for the purpose of breeding them but let them dry out on accident.


A common theme-haha these are quite sensitive to moisture levels. I love how they turn red upon drying up.

radiata: These are different from freshwater and marine amphipods. I know freshwater amphipods are cake to culture-and so are marine amphipods. If you are into marine stuff it might be interesting to know that freshwater amphipods I've dealt with can survive more than a few days in full strength SW, and vise versa for a few species of euryhaline marine amphipods.


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