Taiwanese long claw prawn

Care at a glance

Overview

The Taiwanese long claw prawn is a small oddball predator, manageable in a tank as small as around 40 liters but still not to be trusted with tiny tankmates. A single pair can share a tank if there is enough cover, though two males will fight, so give each animal its own hiding place. It is opportunistic and will catch dwarf shrimp, small snails, and slow bottom fish, so pair it only with quick, robust species or keep it as a species tank. It works the bottom, poking into gaps and under wood, and tolerates cooler water than most prawns in the trade. Feed sinking pellets, frozen foods, and small pieces of seafood.

In the wild

This prawn comes from clear, stony streams on Taiwan, southern Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands, subtropical water that runs cooler than the tropics for part of the year. Adults live among rocks and gravel in flowing water on their way to and from the sea. Give it warm to mildly cool water from 22 to 28 C, a neutral to slightly alkaline pH near 7.0 to 8.0, and hard water rather than soft. A stream-style setup of smooth stones, gravel, and wood with steady flow and good oxygen fits it well.

Good to know

Macrobrachium placidulum is a modest palaemonid, reaching only about 7 centimeters, which makes it one of the few long-armed prawns that suits a normal aquarium rather than a tankbuster. Males grow noticeably longer claws than females and use them to hold territory. The species name is a diminutive that translates as rather calm, a mild joke in a genus better known for its temper. Like other Macrobrachium it is amphidromous, and breeding is hard because the larvae require brackish water.

Did you know

In a genus of notoriously bad-tempered prawns, this one was named placidulum, meaning rather calm, though it will still hunt down any shrimp or small fish it can reach.

Common questions

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