You might find that some of your Neocaridina shrimp develop a light “racing stripe” line down their back.
It can vary in width and length, but will usually be a lighter colour line down the middle of their back.
This is totally harmless, and nothing to worry about.
It’s not the same as the white ring of death, the racing stripe is totally cosmetic.
What causes the stripe?
It’s not fully understood why the stripe appears on some shrimp.
It does seem to be hereditary, so they can pass it on to their babies.
If you like, you should be able to selectively breed your striped-back shrimp to eventually make them more consistent.
Typically, it can start to show up once the shrimp’s around two months old. But, it’s more likely to appear as the shrimp gets older.
Male and female
For some reason, females tend to have a higher chance of developing the stripe.
It might be because the females tend to have stronger and deeper colours, and the stripe colour difference gets itensified too.
It’s still possible for males to get them, but it’s less common.
Reds and yellows
Not all types of Neocaridina can develop the stripe.
It’s definitely possible with red, orange, and yellow shrimp.
There’s even a fairly common type bred to have a stripe, known as Golden Back Yellow Sakura, which should be fairly easy to find.
Changing over time
Each time they molt, the size, colour, or shape of stripe can change.
It’s also possible to disappear completely, and then come back later.
We don’t know, but it’s possible the water chemistry could play a part in how the stripe develops too.