Black Fishbone Galaxy

A black-and-white shrimp with a striped back and fine white speckles across its face.

Arrives young. The pattern sharpens as they grow, and on many of them the white takes on a green or blue metallic tone once fully grown.

One price, no grades. These are the shrimp from our Blue/Green Galaxy Boa and Black Snowflake Fishbone breeding that did not make those lines’ grades — the same parents, priced for what they are.

Caridina — needs soft, slightly acidic water, but this is the forgiving line of the family, so it makes a good first Caridina. Numbers in the FAQ.

The Galaxy Fishbone is the classic entry point into Caridina keeping — hardy, forgiving, and genuinely striking. “Galaxy” in the hobby means a shrimp with white spots across the head and cheeks; the Boa and Snowflake lines were refined out of it, and a Galaxy Fishbone is the shape they started from: a black body, a ladder of white down the back, and speckled cheeks.

Ours come out of our Blue/Green Galaxy Boa and Black Snowflake Fishbone programs — the shrimp that did not reach Boa head coverage or the Snowflake “snow skirt”, with those bloodlines still behind them.

About the photo. The shrimp pictured is one of the best-looking adults from the batch — the target, not the arrival. Pattern and colour both sharpen as they grow.

A mixed pool, and it shows on the shell.

• Pattern: Fishbone clarity and cheek spotting vary from shrimp to shrimp. Some carry a little of the parent lines — a touch more white on the head, or the first belly speckling.
• Tone on the white: The black base never changes. On many, the white takes on a green or blue metallic tone with maturity — the same tone the parent lines carry, usually fainter.
• Spider legs: The body pattern carried onto the legs — black patches with white. Solidity follows the shell, so it is hit and miss on this line.

We grade by the traits that genuinely vary within a batch, and price each grade for what it is. These shrimp have already been graded once — out of the Boa and Snowflake tanks they came from. What is left is a mixed pool with the same genetics behind every shrimp, so we sell it as it is.

So Black Galaxy Fishbones are one grade, one price — the parents’ bloodlines at the entry price.