[4] C. typus is known to play a role in sediment distribution and shredding leaf litter, manipulating the environment using their pereiopods and setaceous chelae.

[12] The fatty acid content and composition of live food affects the larval survival, growth, and development of C.

[12] A captive study observed that C. typus larvae could survive and develop into juveniles when fed only cultured phytoplankton Tetraselmis sp.

[12] When fed Tetraselmis mixed with zooplankton rotifers, the survival of larvae improved and larval development velocity increased as compared to a Tetraselmis-only diet.

[12] Development of endopods on the thoracic appendages in older C. typus larvae allows the capture and ingestion of lumps of food.

Adults possess clawed fingers on their first pereiopod, which help the organism grab and feed on discrete particles or invertebrates such as juvenile insects and oligochaetes.

[13] Their diet contrasts with other Caridina species lacking clawed fingers, which feed on detritus or periphyton instead.

[13] Like other atyid shrimp, C. typus possess hairs and setae on their chelae used for scraping, filtering, and collecting food.

[9] They avoid chemical cues from predatory heterospecifics such as the redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus and barramundi Lates calcarife.

[9] Conspecific cues are useful in low visibility conditions to help find mates or to defend a territory from potential competitors.

[9] Caridina typus is widely distributed throughout the Indo-west Pacific, extending from eastern and southern Africa to the Indian Ocean islands, Australia, Polynesia, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

[7] The spatial distribution of the shrimp is affected by environmental factors such as water velocity, food availability, and predators.

[12] C. typus larvae recruit to the mouth of a coastal river or stream, emerging after sunset and increasing as darkness progresses.

[16] These lineages likely diverged during the Miocene epoch due to historical geographic barriers in the ocean that restricted gene flow.

[14] This may have been due to the historical Miocene Indian Ocean Equatorial Jet (MIOJet), a westward current that restricted movement of populations from west to east.

[14] The current receded and closed when the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia was established, which similarly limits C. typus interaction at the equatorial zone between the two Oceans.

[14] The great dispersal ability of all the lineages may be linked with specific life-history traits like how the zoeal stages can tolerate high salinity levels, facilitating movement between water systems.

Holtodrilus truncatus is a branchiobdellidan ectosymbiotic parasite found on atyid shrimps, both in captivity and the wild.

One effect of humans on C. typus has been the alteration of their habitat and distribution using artificial structures such as dams and floodgates.

[21] Not only do human structures impact the shrimp directly such as by intercepting migration routes, but indirect effects such as predation and competition increase can affect the keystone species, leading to ecological complications over time.

Historically, Pohnpei islanders utilized shrimp such as C. typus as a food source when technology for harvesting marine resources was not advanced or readily available.