Sulawesi ancient-lake Caridina — ecological specialization boundary
Peer-reviewed work on the Malili ancient-lake radiation reports that 12 of 15 endemic Caridina taxa are habitat specialists and that the radiation includes habitat-specific diversification of trophic morphology. This supports treating Sulawesi Caridina as an ecologically differentiated group rather than inheriting one generic Taiwan Bee feeding recipe.
Claim class: EVIDENCE-BACKED / ECOLOGICAL-TROPHIC SPECIALIZATION. It does not by itself establish a captive ration, macronutrient target, commercial food, or species-specific feeding frequency. Species/locality substrate and trophic evidence must be recovered before stronger husbandry claims are made.
Halocaridina rubra / Opae Ula — natural feeding mode
A 2017 Ecosphere study describes Halocaridina rubra as a grazer/detritivore in Hawaiian anchialine ponds and used stable isotopes to show that direct leaf-litter detritus can supplement its diet under canopy cover. The study also reports preference for autotrophic components of epilithon and reduced daylight benthic grazing in ponds invaded by poeciliid fish.
Claim class: EVIDENCE-BACKED / WILD TROPHIC ECOLOGY. This supports epilithon/benthic microbial grazing plus detrital supplementation as natural-diet context; it does not justify routine terrestrial-leaf dosing, a fixed aquarium ration, or fasting schedule.
A 2022 Limnology and Oceanography study further identifies H. rubra grazing on diverse benthic microbial communities including cyanobacterial-bacterial crusts and green algal mats.
Color/nutrition boundary
A 2020 Biological Bulletin study found Opae Ula red coloration is associated with astaxanthin, but carotenoid supplementation/restriction did not shift colony astaxanthin away from colony-specific baselines in the tested experiment. Therefore carotenoid marketing must not be converted into a universal Opae Ula color-enhancement recommendation.
Claim class: EVIDENCE-BACKED / COLOR-NUTRITION BOUNDARY, STUDY-SPECIFIC.
Public research references
Listed research leads are not automatically supporting evidence for every individual claim.