There is a new non native invasive shrimp species to be found in Rutland Water. Two of Anglian Waters reservoirs now have their own new non native shrimp species. Rutland has the "Bloody Red Mysid Shrimp - Hemimysis anomala". Grafham has the "Killer Shrimp - Dikerogammarus villosus", this latter invader has had a huge impact on the feeding behaviour of the Grafham trout over the last two years since being identified there.

Back at Rutland reports of a new food item being spooned out of some of the trout caught by anglers were being heard throughout last season, 2011. These samples were subsequently identified as a new invasive species loosely described as the "Bloody Red Shrimp".

Having spooned these new food items out of trout caught from all around Rutland Water myself when bank fishing and then witnessing first hand the huge "swarms" of these crustaceans it would be a little remiss not to get prepared for the changes this new food source will bring to the trout behaviour and subsequent trout fishing at Rutland.

The very first trip to Rutland I did last season when specifically targeting trout feeding on these new invaders - Hemimysis anomala - resulted in the first fish of the day being this fantastic conditioned grown on 6lb 2oz Rainbow Trout. That was only a mere two ounces shy of the largest RWFF Rainbow Trout trophy winner for the 2011 season.

There has already been mention in the RWFF October 2011 and January 2012 Newsletters of these new shrimps and their potential impact.

So let's backtrack a little and do some research and see what can be found out about these new invaders and what impact they may potentially have. Following are a small selection of links to give some background that may shed some light onto a few quite simple questions that are thrown up by this invasion:

1. "What exactly are these animals?"
2. "Where are they originally from?"
3. "How do they behave?"
4. "What do they feed upon?"
5. "How did they start spreading?"
6. "Where else have they invaded?"
7. "Where did they first appear in the UK?"
8. "What impact or changes will they bring?"

1. Wikipedia's Hemimysis anomala page
2. A fantastic selection of "Bloody Red Mysid Hemimysis anomala" images from the NOAA GLERL
3. A brief article detailing Invasive Alien Species in Northern Ireland from Dr Jaimie Dick, Reader in Behaviour, Ecology & Environmental Biology, Queen's University Belfast
4. Another excellent brief piece from Anthony Ricciardi Associate Professor, Biodiversity
5. YouTube video with easy to understand details Invasive Species- The Bloody Red Shrimp
6. Youtube video of shrimps in situ in a French lake - Hemimysis anomala et Orconectes limosus lac de Viry-chatillon 91
7. Another excellent Youtube video from France - Crevette Hemimysis anomala ?? dans le lac du Bourget
8. The invasive Ponto-Caspian mysid, Hemimysis anomala, reaches the UK - A PDF paper that details the study finding these mysids in and around Nottinghams water ways
9. A two page PDF that quickly describes this beast - Bloody Red Shrimp (Hemimysis anomala)
10. Hemimysis anomala G. O. Sars (Crustacea: Mysidacea) - A much more in depth scientific study in PDF format that details how the little beasts migration started
11. Research done! Now it's time for anglers and fly tiers to innovate and come up with effective fly patterns that will tempt or fool "Bloody Red Mysid Shrimp" feeding trout out of some mere fur and feather...

Location