Hi there amazing person! Today I like to share with you about what a lineage actually means.

Think of lineage as something more like a brand that represents a breeder. Its reputation is on the line when it comes to his branding. A breeder’s skill, hard work and effort is all in its lineage. A lineage is usually bred along the ancestral line from the first generation(F0) onwards.

Lineage came about in the 90s when breeders use a brand to identify themselves from others. Back then pure red/black lineage was really popular, to identify their lineage, each breeder has specific strong traits example: red legs, extreme white or high percentage offspring of certain patterns.

When it comes to creating a lineage, it is very uncommon for breeders to introducing different bloodline into their breeding pool. IMO, breeders that introduce different bloodline to strengthen their shrimps clearly shows the lack of effort and knowledge in maintaining a good lineage. What does that bold statement mean?

Through many years of inbreeding, shrimps will be weakened genetically and show certain weakness or symptoms. Some of the more common ones will be big head symptoms, back deformity or shrimps that are extremely weak. The quick way out is to introduce another bloodline to dilute this weakness.

However, someone that knows what he is doing will introduce another line of shrimp from the same lineage.

Take a look at the graph above. We have mated a male and female together, this would be the F0 generation. The off springs from my F0, I would split them to different line to inbreed together. In the graph, I have split them in four groups and name them from L1 to L4.

Say in this instance, during my fourth generation, I realize that L1 starts showing big head symptoms. I would use another line, take for example L3F4 to breed with L1F3 to dilute the weakness. In this way, both shrimps would still be in the same lineage.

Vice versa, if L4 has certain traits that I would like to improve, I will introduce other line that shows the desire trait and pick out the best to breed together in the different lines. No matter how I mix among the different lines, they will still be under the same ancestral family of F0.

Sounds tedious isn't it? That is why a good lineage commands a high price because of all this hard work. There is no way to test how good a lineage is, and therefore, the reputation of the breeder is very important. When buying a lineage, you have to have some trust in the breeder.

Now if you put yourself in the shoes of the breeder, would you ever want to sell your shrimps for a low price?

When buying a premium lineage, always ask to see the tanks of the breeder. Take a look at the off springs in the tank to determine how strong the lineage is. Don't feel shy to ask more questions, it will be too late to ask any questions after the transaction.

If you have further questions about lineage, feel free to DM me via Facebook or email at demin@madshrimp.com. Take care and hope to see you at MADSHRIMP!