Family: Atyidae
Vampire Shrimp — Atya gabonensis, a 8-13 cm filter feeder from West African rapids with fan-like front legs it spreads in the current. Needs strong flow, high oxygen and 22-28 °C; peaceful, nocturnal, lives 5+ years.
Vampire Shrimp is the largest shrimp commonly kept in freshwater: Atya gabonensis, a brown filter feeder from the rapids of West and Central African rivers, named for the fang-like projections on its carapace and its nocturnal habits. What makes it unmistakable are the front legs, which open into fans of fine bristles — the shrimp anchors itself to a rock in the current and spreads these fans to strain drifting plankton, algae and detritus. Adults reach 8-13 cm, need an aquarium with real flow and excellent oxygenation at 22-28 °C, and appreciate a shady cave or crevice to hide in by day; under subdued blue evening light they emerge to fan the current. They are utterly peaceful, ignore fish and plants, and can live for five years or more. Feeding is easy: fine sinking powders, crushed algae wafers and the particles a mature filter already circulates. Avoid strong medications and copper, give them current and darkness, and a vampire shrimp becomes the quiet, prehistoric centerpiece of a river-themed tank.
Not at all. They are specialized filter feeders that cannot hunt; their heavy claws are for anchoring in current, not fighting. They ignore fish, plants and every tankmate too large to be threatened by.
Three usual causes: not enough current or cover in the open, lighting too bright at its chosen perch, or it is newly arrived and nocturnal habits have not yet relaxed. Give it a shaded cave, a perch in strong flow, and dim evening light — most individuals become remarkably bold.
Fine sinking powder or crushed algae wafer, placed in the current upstream of its perch two or three times a week, plus whatever your filter circulates. Watch the fans open — that is the feeding response. Remove any food that settles uneaten.
A single adult does well in 75 litres or more, provided current is strong and the footprint offers both a cave and an exposed perch. Groups need proportionally more room and more feeding stations.
Five years or more is well documented in home aquaria, with some keepers reporting a decade. Their long lifespan is one reason a single well-kept individual is such good value — and a reason to plan its tank accordingly.