Controlled experiment
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Antcliffe et al., 2026. Royal Society Open Science 13(3): 251712.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina davidi, with Palaemon varians as a marine comparison
Study shape: Oxygen saturation was followed for mostly 48 hours in open and closed carcass containers with carcass-free controls. A separate group of freshwater carcasses was scored daily for ten days for internal and external post-mortem change.
Experimental unit: Individual adult carcass in one container: three open and five closed freshwater oxygen containers; controls were carcass-free containers but their per-condition allocation was not clearly reported. A separate 12-carcass freshwater sequence supplied daily morphology scores.
Environment: Individual euthanized adult carcasses in 20 mL closed or 100 mL open reverse-osmosis deionized freshwater at 21 C, plus a separate open-water anatomical decay sequence
Endpoints: oxygen saturation near or around the carcass, hourly oxygen change, post-mortem internal and external morphology scores.
What it can support: In the tested 20 mL closed freshwater vials, a single adult N. davidi carcass drove oxygen saturation to complete drawdown within about one day. Open 100 mL freshwater bottles remained above full anoxia but every carcass run became at least dysoxic by 48 hours. Separate daily scoring showed rapid internal tissue opacity before major external collapse.
What it cannot support: The one-carcass-per-20-or-100-mL reverse-osmosis-water systems had no filter, substrate, plants, aeration, scavengers or living tankmates and cannot be scaled to a home aquarium, a tank-wide oxygen prediction or a removal deadline. Oxygen was reported as percent saturation and measured locally or in the tiny vial, not as aquarium mg/L. Freshwater oxygen groups were small, with three open and five closed containers, control allocation was unclear, oxygen and anatomy sequences used different euthanasia methods, and the work did not measure disease transmission, tankmate outcomes or cause of death. Clove oil and magnesium chloride methods are not home euthanasia protocols.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Li et al., 2025. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 25(2): TRJFAS25726.
Source taxon as published: Aquaculture-farm Neocaridina davidi; identification method not reported
Study shape: The authors sequenced HIF-1alpha cDNA and profiled mRNA and protein across three gonad stages and seven named embryo stages. They then randomly assigned nominal groups of 300 females and 100 males to intramuscular injection of 600 nL dsHIF-1alpha or dsEGFP. Egg-carrying females observed within three days supplied maternal muscle and removed embryos for qPCR, western blots, glycolytic-gene assays and photographed developmental examples.
Experimental unit: Individual injected adult for assignment, but each treatment occupied a mesh box within one shared-water tank. Embryo expression samples pooled material from three shrimp and reported three repetitions without fully mapping females, broods, embryo counts or pools to each assay. The developmental figure shows one control sequence and three affected examples without the eligible female, clutch or embryo denominator.
Environment: Farm-sourced adults maintained at 27 C with daily compound feed; dsHIF-1alpha and dsEGFP groups occupied mesh boxes within the same shrimp tank, and dissolved oxygen and other water chemistry were not reported
Endpoints: HIF-1alpha cDNA sequence and predicted domains, stage-associated HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein, maternal muscle and embryo HIF-1alpha after dsRNA injection, embryo PFK, HK and PGK transcripts, photographed cleavage progression or arrest.
What it can support: Under the reported assays, HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein were highest at the cleavage stage relative to later named embryo stages. Maternal dsHIF-1alpha injection was associated with lower HIF-1alpha signal in maternal muscle and sampled embryos, lower expression of selected glycolytic transcripts in several cleavage or blastula comparisons, and photographed examples of delayed or arrested early development relative to the dsEGFP sequence.
What it cannot support: The study did not assign oxygen treatments or measure dissolved oxygen, so the HIF name and pathway cannot establish aquarium hypoxia, embryo oxygen demand, aeration need, tolerance or a safe oxygen threshold. Shared tank water prevents independent environmental replication. Taxon identification was not reported, and the methods repeatedly call the shrimp crayfish. The number of egg-carrying females, clutches, embryos, affected embryos, surviving embryos and hatches was not reported, so the developmental frequency and effect size are unknown. Removed-embryo observation conditions and the selection of photographed examples were not fully described. The study did not directly label or trace dsRNA into oocytes or embryos, include an uninjected control, use a second non-overlapping HIF-1alpha dsRNA, report a rescue experiment or measure maternal survival and reproductive output; lower embryo signal therefore does not by itself prove physical intergenerational transfer or exclude off-target and maternal-condition pathways. Sample pooling and biological-replicate mapping are incomplete. Paired t-tests were used for apparently separate treatment groups and repeated stage comparisons without a reported multiplicity correction. Methods define significance at p less than 0.01, text uses p less than 0.05, captions introduce one, two and three-star levels, Figure 6 calls embryo-stage measurements muscle, and Figure 4 is titled protein expression although one panel is mRNA. The seven stage names partly borrow from Macrobrachium literature, and the representative 428-hour control sequence cannot supply a universal hatch countdown or viability test.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Li et al., 2025. Journal of Biological Chemistry 301(7): 110298.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina davidi
Study shape: Histology, molecular manipulation and physiological measurements were compared across molt-related conditions.
Experimental unit: Animal or prepared tissue, depending on endpoint
Environment: Laboratory physiological and molecular experiment
Endpoints: gene expression, muscle metabolism, heart rate, gill ventilation, molting.
What it can support: Mechanistic involvement of HIF-1 alpha and glycolysis in the tested growth and molt physiology.
What it cannot support: The culture dissolved-oxygen range is not a tested aquarium minimum, and visible branchial movement cannot diagnose the pathway.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
System observation or method study
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
McKnight et al., 2025. ISME Communications 5(1): ycaf212.
Source taxon as published: Home aquarium biofilter microorganisms, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: Weekly bead, sponge and water samples were paired with chemistry, qPCR and community sequencing while stocking and maintenance varied by home.
Experimental unit: Home aquarium, n equals three; repeated samples and technical replicates remain nested within aquarium
Environment: Three independently established home freshwater aquaria followed for twelve weeks
Endpoints: total ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, amoA abundance, microbial community succession.
What it can support: Nitrification timing and nitrifier succession differed among the three aquaria, with comammox Nitrospira prominent later in every sampled biofilter.
What it cannot support: Three uncontrolled home systems do not establish a universal three-week or eight-week cycle, a product effect or commissioned animal capacity.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Hou et al., 2024. PLOS ONE 19(12): e0315585.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina davidi var. red
Study shape: Five diets differing in astaxanthin and Bidens pilosa were compared with repeated colour measurements, gene expression and a later sealed-bottle challenge.
Experimental unit: Independently filtered jar for the diet treatment and dissolved-oxygen bottle for the later challenge
Environment: Independently filtered six-litre jars at 24 C for 56 days followed by a nine-hour sealed-bottle challenge
Endpoints: CIELAB colour, colour-related gene expression, stress-related gene expression, nine-hour colour stability.
What it can support: The tested additives changed measured colour values and selected gene-expression outcomes under the reported diet and challenge conditions.
What it cannot support: It does not establish genetic colour improvement, permanent grade, general health benefit, transport success or a safe dissolved-oxygen threshold.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
System observation or method study
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
McKnight and Neufeld, 2024. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 90(7): e00104-24.
Source taxon as published: Freshwater aquarium microbial communities, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: Microbial genes and community composition were surveyed across aquarium biofilters.
Experimental unit: Sampled aquarium biofilter
Environment: Thirty-eight freshwater aquarium biofilters
Endpoints: comammox genes, relative abundance, community composition.
What it can support: Complete ammonia-oxidizing Nitrospira occurred widely in the sampled biofilters.
What it cannot support: Detection and relative abundance do not measure a tank workload, prove full commissioning or establish an animal-safe concentration.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Field observation
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Prati et al., 2024. Biological Invasions 26: 2499-2523.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina davidi
Study shape: Feral occurrence, environmental conditions and intracellular parasite relationships were investigated.
Experimental unit: Field population, site and sampled animal, depending on endpoint
Environment: European feral populations with field sampling and molecular parasite work
Endpoints: feral occurrence, range expansion, microsporidian detection, environmental context.
What it can support: Feral populations and intracellular parasite associations exist in the sampled locations.
What it cannot support: One site value is not a care boundary, and field parasite detection is not a prevalence estimate for the aquarium trade.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
Scagnelli et al., 2023. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 44: 22-26.
Source taxon as published: Fishless freshwater aquarium systems, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: Five aquaria each received a different commercial quick-start product and one aquarium was untreated after a 1.0 ppm ammonium-hydroxide addition.
Experimental unit: Aquarium, with one aquarium per product and one untreated control
Environment: Six ten-gallon freshwater aquaria followed for fourteen days
Endpoints: total ammonia nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate.
What it can support: Only one of five tested products produced lower total ammonia nitrogen than the control during this fourteen-day design.
What it cannot support: One aquarium per product provides no independent treatment replication and cannot certify or rank current products, prove instant cycling or establish animal-ready capacity.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Field observation
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Onuki, 2021. Crustacean Research 50: 33-39.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina davidi
Study shape: Section-level shrimp counts were related to measured plants, water depth, current velocity, temperature and sediment using spatially adjusted generalized linear mixed models.
Experimental unit: Two or four square metre stream section, depending on sampling month
Environment: Twelve sections of an urban spring-fed stream sampled from September through November 2019
Endpoints: adult density, juvenile density, body size, environmental associations.
What it can support: Adult density was positively associated with emergent plants, while juvenile density was negatively associated with measured current velocity in this stream.
What it cannot support: This observational field association does not assign aquarium flow, compare filter types, identify a turnover rate or make the observed density a home-aquarium capacity.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Direct Neocaridina evidence
Viau et al., 2016. Aquaculture Research 47(8): 2528-2542.
Source taxon as published: Neocaridina heteropoda heteropoda
Study shape: Water quality, biofilm processes, survival and growth were measured in a designed culture system.
Experimental unit: Culture vessel or substrate treatment unit
Environment: Aerated laboratory biofilm culture with zero routine water exchange
Endpoints: nitrogen compounds, dissolved oxygen, survival, growth.
What it can support: A deliberately designed and aerated biofilm system can contribute to water processing and juvenile culture.
What it cannot support: It does not validate an unaerated jar, every visible home biofilm, a no-water-change rule or a filterless aquarium.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
System observation or method study
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
Bagchi et al., 2014. PLOS ONE 9(12): e113515.
Source taxon as published: Freshwater aquarium microbial communities, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: Nitrogen balances and attached ammonia-oxidizer communities were measured across biofilter media and time.
Experimental unit: Aquarium and sampled biofilter medium
Environment: Three freshwater aquarium biofilters
Endpoints: nitrogen conversion, ammonia-oxidizer abundance, spatial and temporal stability.
What it can support: Attached aquarium biofilters can account for a large measured share of nitrification in the studied systems.
What it cannot support: It does not prove a filter model, media volume, cycle duration, turnover rate or Neocaridina toxicity boundary.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
System observation or method study
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
Sauder et al., 2011. PLOS ONE 6(8): e23281.
Source taxon as published: Freshwater aquarium biofilter microorganisms, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: qPCR, gene sequencing and water chemistry were compared across sampled freshwater biofilters, with saltwater filters and two supplements as context.
Experimental unit: Sampled aquarium biofilter; technical molecular replicates are not independent aquaria
Environment: Twenty-seven residential and retail freshwater aquarium biofilters in Ontario
Endpoints: amoA gene abundance, community fingerprints, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate.
What it can support: Thaumarchaeal ammonia-oxidizer genes dominated the detectable amoA signal in most sampled freshwater biofilters.
What it cannot support: Gene abundance does not measure complete nitrogen-processing capacity, prove a filter mature or prescribe a product, media volume or cycle duration.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
Wert et al., 2008. Water Research 42(1-2): 372-378.
Source taxon as published: Pilot drinking-water biofilters, not an aquarium animal experiment
Study shape: Backwash chlorination, filter depth and filtration rate were compared while residual ammonia and biodegradable organic matter were measured.
Experimental unit: Pilot filter
Environment: Three pilot sand-and-anthracite drinking-water filters
Endpoints: ammonia conversion, nitrite, nitrate, biodegradable organic matter removal.
What it can support: Backwash disinfection history and filtration rate changed nitrification in these pilot drinking-water filters.
What it cannot support: A municipal pilot filter does not prescribe aquarium rinsing, flow, media replacement or safe shrimp exposure, and chlorine effects depend on the tested system.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.
Controlled experiment
Adjacent aquarium-system evidence
Hovanec et al., 1998. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64(1): 258-264.
Source taxon as published: Freshwater aquarium nitrifying communities, not a Neocaridina animal experiment
Study shape: Molecular probes, clone libraries and water chemistry followed nitrite oxidizers during aquarium establishment and an additive comparison.
Experimental unit: Aquarium for treatment and chemistry; sampled gravel or biofilter material for molecular endpoints
Environment: Ammonium-dosed freshwater aquaria and aquarium biofilter samples
Endpoints: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, rRNA sequence and probe signal.
What it can support: Nitrospira-like organisms appeared with nitrite oxidation in the tested freshwater aquarium systems.
What it cannot support: One establishment design does not establish a universal cycle day, prove an additive effective or certify animal-ready capacity.
Open the source or open this record in the full research map.