The Science of Colour in Shrimp
What makes a shrimp red, blue, yellow, black or even purple? Is it something they eat, something they inherit, or something considerably more complicated? *The Science of Shrimp Colour* explores the fascinating biology behind colour in ornamental freshwater shrimp, from dietary carotenoids and internally synthesised pigments to chromatophores, structural colour, light scattering and the influence of genetics and physiology. Along the way, we'll examine how pigments are acquired, transported and displayed, why two shrimp eating identical diets can look completely different, and whether commercial colour-enhancing foods really deliver what their marketing promises. Combining scientific literature, original macro photography and a healthy dose of irreverence, this paper aims to make the complex science of crustacean colour accessible to everyday aquarium keepers. Because you don't feed colour. You feed the animal that produces it.
Bibliography / Recommended reading
Best for beginners:
Bauer, Raymond T., ‘Coloration and Camouflage’, Ray Bauer Research, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, online resource (accessed 10 October 2026).
More in depth:
Cianci, Michele, et al., ‘The molecular basis of the coloration mechanism in lobster shell: β-crustacyanin at 3.2-Å resolution’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99.15 (2002), pp. 9795–9800. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.152088999.
Lee, R. F., ‘Lipoproteins I and II from the hemolymph of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus: Lipoprotein II associated with vitellogenesis’, Journal of Experimental Zoology, 248.3 (1988), pp. 278–289. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1402480306.
Yehezkel, G., et al., ‘High-density lipoprotein associated with secondary vitellogenesis in the hemolymph of the crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus’, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 127.3 (2000), pp. 411–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0491(00)00270-4.
‘Isolation of crustacean egg yolk lipoproteins by differential density gradient ultracentrifugation’, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Comparative Biochemistry, 103.2 (1992), pp. 363–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-0491(92)90305-B.
McNamara, John Campbell, and Sarah Milograna, ‘Adaptive Color Change and the Molecular Endocrinology of Pigment Translocation in Crustacean Chromatophores’, in The Natural History of the Crustacea, vol. 4: Physiological Regulation, ed. by Ernest S. Chang and Martin Thiel (Oxford University Press, 2015), pp. 68–102. ResearchGate.
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