Cleaner Shrimp Pair

[connorsbala]

Hey
Just a quick question. I have heard that cleaner shrimp can produce babies regularly, therefore providing the inhabitants with natural plankton. If i wanted to get a pair, can you tell the difference between male and female or doesnt it matter? The reson i ask is i shall be getting a cleaner this weekend, but dont really want to pay the high prices of this shop... So if i get one this week, then another next week or something, would this make a difference or do they need to be purchased at the same time to get used to each other etc?
Cheers

 

[Lynden]

They are incomplete hermaphrodites. The last two I had were both 'pregnant' all the time. They would even spawn occasionally, producing visible larvae, but none survived.

 

[dilbert]

Just to add for the non-biologists.

Every cleaner shrimp is male and female simultaneously, so no gender change is needed as with clownfish or livebearers.

But those cleaner shrimps cannot fertilise themselves. So, if you got at least two, then A fertilises B and B fertilises A.

 

[1entra]

They are incomplete hermaphrodites.

I never knew that. Its true what they say, you learn something new every day!