Pistol Shrimp Hitchhiker: Coral Commensal – Coralliocaris spp. 5/24/09 Hi Guys, Janet here. <Hi Janet, Lynn here today> I bought a colony of Acropora last week and have found 2 hitchhikers in it. <Neat!> I know that Acropora generally will come with an Acro crab, but these little guys are shrimps. <They sure are. They’re small coral commensals, in the genus Coralliocaris (only around 8-9 species recognized at this time). Unfortunately, I was unable to find photos of each species for comparison, but I did find one that looks similar enough to be a definite possibility. This species, Coralliocaris graminea, varies in color, but has the same thin, longitudinal lines on the body, as well as orange-ish tipped legs and claws. Please see the following links for comparison/more info: http://tolweb.org/onlinecontributors/app?page=ViewImageData&service=external&sp=26879 http://www.vanaqua.org/aquanews/field/images/yaqara.htm http://www.seadb.univpm.it/en_Green-Acropora-commensal-shrimp-Coralliocaris-graminea_587.htm Also, if you happen to have Helmut Debelius’ book, Crustacea Guide Of The World (2nd edition), see page 189. Reportedly, this Acropora commensal reaches about 1cm in length and is indigenous to the Indo-West Pacific region.> They were inside the Acropora colony, and I managed to "spook" them out and get them into a container for a picture and to make sure they were reef safe etc. I am attaching a picture of one of the two. <Super, thanks> The other one has no claws, but is identical other than that. The 2 of them must have had a tussle and one ended up with no claws out of the deal? <Perhaps yes, or it could have been due to rough transit/handling when collected, shipped, etc.> I currently have them in a 10g emergency tank. Do these guys eat Acro? <Not according to what I’ve read. They’re commensals that likely have little negative impact on the colony.> It is even a pistol shrimp? <No. Although these shrimps do use their claws to make clicking/snapping noises, they’re not actually what we consider pistol shrimps (family Alpheidae). They belong to another family: Palaemonidae, subfamily Pontoniidae. This group of shrimps doesn’t have the same formidable snapping ability of the Alpheids. Also of note is that the claws of Coralliocaris species are matched in size, whereas those of the Alpheids are markedly different. For more in-depth info on snapping claws, please see this pdf file: http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/27238/27238.pdf . It’s probably more than you ever wanted to know, but it’s interesting!> The Acro colony has had some die off which occurred after getting it home a few days later. <Can happen sometimes> I have another smaller colony of Acropora, but this piece is fine. <Excellent> Because of the die off I started taking a look at the colony to see if I could determine what may be happening to it. This is when I noticed these little guys. I actually managed to nab both of them in my 75 gallon tank without losing them and then moved them to the 10 gallon tank. As you can see by the picture of the shrimp in my hand, they are very tiny. <Yep, that’s typical for these guys. The genus as a whole generally ranges in size from 1-2cm.> This is a picture of the larger one too. Can you provide any information as to what they are, and if they are reef safe or not. Do they prey on Acropora only or any sps coral? <I haven’t come across anything indicating that they’re parasitic, or harmful to corals at all, so you should be okay.> Thanks, Janet <You’re very welcome. Take care, LynnZ>

Re: Pistol Shrimp Hitchhiker: Coral Commensal – Coralliocaris spp. 5/25/09 <Hi Janet> Well, thanks for the great info on my little shrimps. <You’re very welcome.> I have left them in the 10 gallon as I don't think they will keep up with my 75 gallon crew of fish and crustaceans. I have a maroon clown, with a rose bubble anemone and she is rather a misery and huge! I love her though and would not part with her. <I can sure understand. I used to have a tomato clown with all the charm of a rabid wolverine but I loved her anyway.> Also a Yellow Tang, tiny Hippo Tang, 1 Coral Perch and 2 Chromis, 2 blood shrimp, 1 coral banded, <Watch out for this guy. They’ve been known to kill other shrimps, hermits and the like.> ..and 1 cleaner shrimp as well as the regular snails, hermits, serpent stars (also finding baby serpent stars by the dozen, and also moving them too), and last, 2 sand sifting stars. <These are neat creatures, but don’t do well in most systems. Unfortunately, they wipe out the sandbed fauna then starve.> I also have a Yellow Watchman Goby, and he is paired with a tiger pistol shrimp. <Love this combination> That's another reason why I questioned if these 2 were in fact pistol shrimps. I did notice that the little guys’ claws were the same size each, but had what looks like the little snapper. <Yep, the claws look just like a pistol shrimp’s.> I don't think that whoever shipped this colony of Acropora would have known they were in there do you think? <I seriously doubt it. Those shrimps are small, cryptically colored, and know how to hide within the coral’s branches.> Sadly there has been more die off and I don't see the Acropora crab in there anymore. <Oh? I didn’t realize you had a crab hitchhiker as well - neat.> Do the Acropora crabs leave the colony if it's not doing well, or do they die? <I imagine they stick with the coral until it’s pretty well dead, then move on to another.> This particular piece was large and nice. It may have been in rough shape when I bought it, hence the "sale" price. <Yep, that’s usually a clue that’s something’s not quite right.> I may be able to salvage some by fragging it. Does this make sense <Yes, that is if you can’t return it for a refund/credit. Be sure to look over the "Coral Pests and Disease" page (link below) so you can get a better idea of what’s going on with the coral. If it’s rapidly turning white/losing tissue, it could be RTN (rapid tissue necrosis) or “white band disease”. If that’s the case, you’ll want to remove the coral and frag it immediately. In the case of pests, follow the instructions given for each: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corldisart.html More info on Acropora selection, issues, here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acropt3.htm Good site with a key for diagnosing coral disease: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mccarty_and_peters/coral/Stonyq0.htm > ..and how should I frag it? <If it’s RTN/WBD, break off healthy pieces well away from any white areas.> I have a 30 gallon tall seahorse tank too, but there is also a blue pistol shrimp in with them. What is your suggestion about where I could keep these guys? <Optimally, I’d recommend keeping them with an Acropora colony. I wasn’t able to find any information regarding the exact diet of these shrimps. They may be like some commensal crabs in that they feed, at least partially, on the mucus produced by the coral. I honestly just don’t know.> What about feeding? <I would try offering a variety of foods and see what they like, including small meaty bits of marine origin (Mysis shrimp, silverside, etc), along with some good quality sinking pellets or even flake food.> I can just leave them in the 10 gallon as there is nothing detrimental to them in there. If they are fine in the tank I don't want to part with them. Did I end up with a rare find!!??? <Well, it’s not something you see every day, but I have run across other reports of hobbyists finding these shrimps within their corals. I do believe however, that this is the first time we’ve ID’d them here at WWM!> If the Acropora doesn't make it should I give the skeleton to them for cover? <Sure, as long as there’s no lingering disease or pests that might be introduced to any other resident corals.> It would be a shame to have the entire colony die, I hope to salvage what I can. <I sure hope you can too.> You see when I got it home from the store, I obviously dripped it and then added it to the large tank. Sometimes I take a turkey baster and clean the rock of detritus and such. When I did this around that colony, a lot of the "flesh" pretty much just blew away exposing the white skeleton. <Ouch, not good> I'd only had it a few days. I have a T5 HO lighting system. Are these sufficient for this type of coral, <Given enough bulbs and good placement, sure.> ..because I don't want to buy something that won't survive in my tank, until I can change the lighting system if required. <Good thinking. For more information on SPS system requirements, please see this link: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acropt3.htm > This is a great site! And thank you so much for the extremely quick response. Thanks LynnZ <You’re very welcome. It’s always nice to chat with fellow hobbyists about such neat little creatures! Take care, LynnZ> Re: Pistol Shrimp Hitchhiker: Coral Commensal – Coralliocaris spp. Follow-up 5/25/09 Janet here again: <Hi Janet> I noted that you stated the sand sifting stars deplete the sand bed and eventually starve. I have had mine for at least 2-3 years now and they are still doing fine. <That’s terrific. They don’t fare well in most systems, long term. Two to three years though, is definitely long term!> Although I have heard that theory as well. You weren't referring to the brittle/serpent stars were you? <Nope, just the sand sifters.> I have also heard that the coral bandeds can be devils, but mine has been ok. <Good, hopefully he’ll stay that way!> However, that said I did lose a cleaner shrimp. Actually never found it again at all and did think it may have been him that nabbed him. <It’s possible, yes.> The cleaner shrimp was fairly small. As per your suggestion, I did frag up the rest of the coral that was salvaged from the Acro colony. <What was one colony can now turn into many!> I also fed the little shrimps some or rather a few mysis shrimp. <Sounds good> Thanks again for your help. <You’re very welcome. Take care, LynnZ>

Mantis or Pistol  9/22/08
Hi Crew!
<Craig>
This is an awesome site…great job.
<Thanks>
My question is regarding a clicking noise in my 55G reef tank. I know the likely culprit is a Mantis or a Pistol shrimp. I have scoured your site and others and have seen many times the pistol shrimp’s clicks are typically single or in two’s. I have noticed the clicking for a couple of months only after the lights go out. It was normally one click at a time and sometimes as many as two clicks every 30 minutes or so. Tonight I distinctly heard three clicks in a row. Five or ten minutes later I heard only a single click. Should I be concerned?
<If you're missing valuable animals, yes. This is likely a Pistol>
I had recently written the clicks off as a pistol shrimp. But the frequency exceeded the normal one or two clicks for a Pistol. I have not lost a fish or invert in this tank for many months. The only losses were the result of an uneducated purchase of Banggai Cardinals that refused to eat. My biggest concern is over my Tiger Sleeper Goby and by Blue Spot Jawfish (which was well worth the high price tag and is easily my favorite fish). I have not seen any burrows (other than the one my Blue Spot resides in) or any molts (other than from my hermits and Skunk Cleaner Shrimp). What should I do…if anything?
Craig
<I'd hold off for now, continue observing... There may be an Alpheid here... that the fish are steering clear of, perhaps the Tiger Goby conspiring with. The Pistol can be baited out some time later should it prove problematical. Bob Fenner>

Pistol Shrimp ID and commensal host 8/4/03
Good morning,
<cheers>
Just a quick id question.  I have a small tank that as made up of "dead" rock, it is stocked with a few hermits, and a couple of sergeant majors I netted in Florida.  
<hardy but ferocious fishes>
I also collected some various Caulerpa in Florida (palm beach area).  Here is the kicker now I have a new little friend who just sort of appeared (my guess hitch hiked in with the Caulerpa).  It is definitely a pistol shrimp, but I can't find any info that has helped to identify the species.
<do seek "Reef Creatures: by Humann and DeLoach>
It has a bright blue head, and bright orange "arms" and claws.
Just to satisfy my curiosity do you have an idea on the species?  
<hard to say without a pic>
Also I was thinking of sticking one of the shrimp gobies in with him, which would be the best species?
<you may very well have trouble finding a Pacific shrimp goby to accept this Atlantic pistol. The pistol you have may not even be commensal with gobies/fishes. They are often commensal with echinoderms or other organisms altogether. Lets get a positive ID first and then seek a buddy>
Thanks for your help!
<best regards, Anthony>

Synalpheus stimpsonii
Hi Bob
I am interested in pictures of the crinoid-associated Synalpheus stimpsonii posted on your website.
I work on taxonomy of the family Alpheidae and believe that S. stimpsonii is a species complex (5 species have been described and later put in synonymy of S. stimpsonii but I doubt that they are all the same).  By the way, Alpheus bellulus is a species complex, too, with at least 2 new cryptic species to be described.  I would greatly appreciate if you could send me slide duplicates or high resolution jpgs of these 3 pictures and other Alpheid shrimps; of course, all photos will be used exclusively for scientific purposes and all photographers will be acknowledged.
All the best
Arthur
--
Dr. Arthur Anker
Department of Biological Sciences - Zoology
University of Alberta
Edmonton Canada T6G 2E9
<You are welcome to the use of any/all of my slide work on this group. Am about to scoot out of town, so am asking Jason Chodakowski here to follow-up with you re re-scans, searching the files here for what we have. Cheers. Bob Fenner>

Bob, Take Some Pictures For Me, Please? - Synalpheus stimpsonii
Bob, I hope you'll have a chance to take some pics of shrimps and other crusties in the Marquesas, for instance, I have nothing from this region my friend Joseph Poupin did some work on decapod crustaceans of the French Polynesia (he has a website, too), but as usual shrimps (especially Alpheids) are really poorly represented and illustrated today I also saw your wonderful pontoniine shots. 
cheers, A
--
Dr. Arthur Anker
Department of Biological Sciences - Zoology
University of Alberta
Edmonton Canada T6G 2E9
<Will do my best. Am taking 35mm rigs with macro diopters, mainly Velvia (ISO 50) film... and some tried/true Nikonos and 28mm. framer sets... so we'll see. Would you like me to cc you on the above groups image work vis a vis scans of what is deemed worth scanning? Bob F>

Pistol Shrimp
Hello all,
In my 3 month old 12g tank with 20lbs of Marshall live rock, I've had clicking or popping noises coming from one area of my tank from the beginning. Early on after first hearing the noises I pulled my rock and dipped it in carbonated water in the hopes of shaking loose a mantis or pistol shrimp but no luck.
I've been reading all sorts of posts on noises like this and the consensus seems to be that its either a mantis, pistol or my hermits might be slugging it out. I'm leaning toward ruling out the hermits as the cause as my two Scarlets are the most lazy creatures in my tank and I don't see them putting forth the effort to sling their shell at anyone and my dwarf blue hermits are so small that I can't imagine they can generate enough oompf to make such a loud clicking.
So I figure it has to be one of the two shrimp. What confuses me is that its been almost three months of this and my head count for all my critters appears ok so if its a mantis what's he beating on? Also, I've been peeking at my tank after lights out almost every night (about 2 hours after lights off) and usually in the morning too (about 5am) - wouldn't I get a peek at who ever this is or would they lay that low? And the stupid things have to grow so won't it eventually have to out grow whatever space he's in thus possibly revealing himself?
And I guess the last thought was could it be something else? I hear everything from 1 to 4 clicks in some sort of succession almost every day and usually more than once. I've read that Pistols usually click in twos and Mantis will beat on something until they get dinner.
I have not tried to trap yet as I'm not sure its really a Mantis I'm dealing with. And having past my cycle I'm not excited about the idea of pulling my rock again but I will if I find evidence that something has been killed.
Currently the tank has 2 very small false Percs, a dozen snails, 7 hermits and a Skunk cleaner shrimp - all happily going about their business as best as I can tell. Thoughts?
<Matt I am almost sure it is a pistol shrimp, I have one and know what you're talking about. If it were a mantis, your cleaner shrimp would be history along with some hermits and possible the clowns. Pistol shrimp aren't bad to have in the tank. You will very seldom see them during the day. If mine smells food I can see his antennae waving out his hole. They do occasionally move from time to time setting up new quarters. This will be evident by gravel looking like it was bulldozed around his hole. James (Salty Dog)>
Much thanks, Matt Selchow
<You're welcome> 

Raising a Pistol Shrimp (3/23/05)
I have a few questions regarding a pistol shrimp. 
<Shoot. BTW, please capitalize the proper noun "I" and the first letter of sentences. Also, please use punctuation like periods and question marks. We post all queries and replies on our site permanently and want them as readable as possible. Our volunteer crew will have a lot more time to answer queries if they don't have to proofread them. Not only that, some of us older presbyopics have a hard time reading unpunctuated text. Thanks, Steve Allen.> 
I just got him from my LFS and he is a baby I want to raise him and then pair him with a watchman goby...
<I have a pair in my tank. They're very attractive and interesting to watch.> 
... but I am not sure how long it will take to raise him large enough. What he should be eating as a baby and if the species I have is compatible with a watchman? 
<What species do you have? Many genus Alpheus burrowing shrimps will for this symbiotic relationship. As for foods, if the shrimp is very small, then you will need something very fine such as Cyclop-Eeze. If big enough, it will take just about any frozen food such as Mysis. Many will take ground flake foods or tiny pellets. The shrimp should be big enough to be with the goby when it's too big to be eaten and is burrowing.> 
He is opaque with black stripes and he looks like he's wearing a prison jumpsuit. 
<I'd suggest you compare with pictures in a book that has a lot of shrimp pictures. If you can send me a clear picture, I may be able to help, but I cannot make an identification based on this description. I hope this info is helpful.>