Also called Green fungus, Ellobiopsis, Cladogonium, Cladogonium kumaki, Cladogonium ogishimae, green fungus (misnomer), ellobiopsid (misnomer)
The 'green fungus' of dwarf shrimp is not a fungus and, per the peer-reviewed literature, not an ellobiopsid: it is the green alga Cladogonium (C. kumaki on Neocaridina davidi; C. ogishimae on Caridina, Macrobrachium and Paratya), an epibiotic/ectoparasitic alga whose colourless rhizoids penetrate the cuticle into the tissue below, with green to greenish-yellow or greenish-brown zoosporangia/zoospores. Its exact placement is unsettled (Cladophorales: Pithophoraceae on morphology; DNA points toward Trentepohliales). True ellobiopsids (Ellobiopsis, Thalassomyces) are alveolate protists, close to dinoflagellates, that parasitise crustaceans, mostly copepods and marine crustaceans. No source found gives a tested treatment.
No medicine has been tested. The researchers removed the alga from the shrimp by hand (shrimp sedated) and then held them in separate quarantine tanks; shrimp survived except where the alga covered much of the body. Moulting removes only part of it (the thallus can stay attached), so shrimp will not reliably clear it alone. Isolating affected shrimp, as the legacy text says, is consistent with this, but the paper's control method is manual removal.
If a fish is badly ill, talk to an aquatic vet.
It travels with traded shrimp (most common in shrimp from farm ponds, least in aquarium-bred stock). Inspect new shrimp, especially the pleopods, and check freshly shed moults for damage; keep new arrivals separate until checked.
6 facts checked with sources
21 species
