Hierarchy among shrimps: crayfish have created a totalitarian society where they suppress the weak (10 photos)

Who would have thought that such passions were in full swing among crustaceans? Giant river shrimp is not only 200-300 grams of tasty, easily digestible meat. This is also a high level of sociality, strict differentiation based on the color of the claws and incredible love from shrimp farmers. Every year 200,000 tons of products are sold to the market!





Here it is, the shrimp of my dreams!

The giant river shrimp is so much larger than its counterparts sold in supermarkets that an inexperienced person can confuse it with a crayfish. The same 30-40 centimeters in length, up to 600 grams of weight and hefty, albeit thin, claws. Even the lifestyle is almost identical: both crawl along the river bottom and eat everything that is not nailed down. Carrion, algae, small animals - any organic matter will find its last refuge in the digestive tract of the gigacarmint.



Pay attention to the claws: the second pair of walking legs has turned into them. And in crayfish, the first pair plays the role of pincers.

Entrepreneurs really liked omnivorousness. They also liked that for shrimp ponds there is no need to control the salinity of the water, and it is enough to keep the temperature within 20-30 degrees. Which is especially easy in the homeland of shrimp, in Southeast Asia. Subsequently, it began to be bred in a number of other warm regions: Africa, Thailand, China, Japan and even the USA.





All shrimp are bred in special ponds. In southern countries they are usually located directly in the open air.

Very often such breeding experiments end badly. Sooner or later, the animals escape into the wild and begin to displace native species. But not in this case! For more than 50 years of breeding river shrimp, they have never been able to establish populations outside of farms; they are too peaceful creatures.



Need a bucket of shrimp?

However, despite a pack of pleasant qualities, despite its size, the shrimp could not replace its smaller brothers and remains a delicacy product. Because the scattering of positive qualities is almost completely leveled out by two unsolvable problems. The most noticeable difficulty: the unstable dimensions of the shrimp. It is impossible to raise record-breakingly large animals, no matter how hard you try, because the size of the males depends on their social status.



Remember, son, if you have huge claws, you will be successful with the ladies!

Most males are small creatures, colorless arthropods with small pincers. Scientists call them that - small males. River shrimp do not grow when they are under stress, and small males are actively suppressed by the next group in the hierarchy - orange claws. These guys are not only bigger, but also better armed. They have strong and long (up to 1.5 body lengths!) grippers, which are so convenient for chasing all sorts of small things.



This is what the shrimp middle class looks like.

But they also do not reach the maximum possible size. For every few hundred shrimp there is one alpha with blue claws. Only he reveals his full potential, and the length of his claws is 2 times the length of his body. He stands at the top of the hierarchical pyramid and limits the development of his fellows. And, therefore, it limits the profit received from growing shrimp.



Here they are from left to right: blue legs, orange legs, small male.

And even if you remove the alpha, nothing will change. Just one of the larger orange claws will suddenly grow in size and change color. And the vacated place in the ranks of the “middle class” will be taken by a nimble shrimp from the lower classes.



Take me back to my kingdom, stupid! They are starting to grow without me!!!

Males differ not only in appearance. The handsome man with blue paws is very popular among females, because he is not only attractive, but also protects the chosen ladies at the most crucial moment of their lives. Before laying eggs, the mother shrimp molts, so her soft shell is temporarily vulnerable to even the smallest predators. For the next few days fromthe long-legged male stays with his lady and protects her. But orange and small males do not show such courage; their chitinous skin is more valuable to them.



If you touch my little lady, I’ll scratch out your blinkers. With my paws, you won’t even have to get out of the aquarium.

When the female recovers a little and her armor hardens, she will scoop up all the eggs under her cephalothorax and treasure them for the next 2 weeks. The hatched larvae will not even think of thanking the parent for her care. They will ride water currents and go into the very depths of a lake or river to chew plankton. It will take them 11 molts and 30-45 days to grow to the imago (adult) stage.



By the way, the larvae of all decapod crayfish look very similar.

But they will begin to reproduce 5-7 months after birth, when they have grown well. And this is the second problem of raising our heroes - the change of generations is too long. Shrimp, which you can find in supermarkets, travels this way about 2 times faster!