Also known as African fan shrimp, African filter shrimp, African giant shrimp, blue rhino shrimp, Gabon shrimp, and Cameroon fan shrimp. Contrary to their predatory-sounding common name these shrimp are gentle giants, reclusive, very shy, and mostly nocturnal in nature (like vampires I guess?) They can be kept in groups and are a joy to watch filter feeding together.
This omnivorous west African species uses fan-like appendages to filter feed on detritus, microfauna, plankton, and algae. Larvae grow up in brackish waters feeding on the abundance of food in mangrove estuaries and move into lowland freshwater rivers with rocky substrate as adults. They grow quite large- some up to 6in/15cm and can live up to 10 years. These shrimp range in color from white to a rusty brown and even blue-gray depending on their environment and water conditions.
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