pistol shrimp; repro./breeding         1/30/16 Hi Crew! <Hey Dani> Sorry about the poor pic but got this Randall's pistol shrimp and saw she was carrying eggs! I imagine when they hatch it will be like other shrimp eggs and get caught up in filtration. :( Just thought I'd share though--never seen a pistol shrimp carrying before. Dani :) <Did a bit of looking about re repro. and embryology/development of young. Don't know if this particular Alpheid species follows the general plan detailed here: http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Alpheus_heterochaelis.htm IF so, IF the eggs are viable (fertilized); there may be a short (few days) larval stage, not many instars... but yes to having a dedicated rearing tank, set up to disallow the over flowing, getting sucked into filters... Do study a bit to see if you have sufficient interest to try this... including buying, seeking out/procuring useful larval feed/s. Bob Fenner>

Alpheus Randalli sex  9/1/11
Hello,
I had a question that I was hoping you could help with! I have a Yasha goby and a Randall's pistol shrimp (Alpheus randalli) and recently have seen images of Stonogobiops gobies with 2 pistol shrimps - so cool! I am curious if this would be possible in a tank my size (15g) and if there is any way to sex them (the pistol shrimp)?
<Mmm, not easily, no. Best to let them sort this out... Alpheids are found in the wild at times in same sex "pairs">
I know some shrimp like Skunk Cleaner Shrimp are hermaphrodites but I don't know about these nor can I find out. Thank you!
<As far as I'm aware the sexes of Pistol Shrimps are determinate. I'd do a bit of Googling... with the two words. "Sexing Alpheids". Bob Fenner>

Goby and Pistol Shrimp Breeding: 5/21/2009
Hello Crew,
A quick question, I've got two Randall's gobies & two Tiger Pistols sharing a burrow. What are the chances of Goby or Pistol offspring?
<Gobies have been bred successfully in captivity. Provided you had a make and female shrimp, it is possible, but any young would likely be devoured quickly.>
I can't find any literature on either of these spawning in captivity.
<Look here for gobies:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/breeder2.htm and here:
http://gobiidae.com/ >
Either way, it's quite entertaining.
thanks,
<My pleasure>
Alan
<Mike>

Alpheus randalli: Is it a boy or a girl? (2nd attempt)  10/11/08 Hello crew! I sent this email a few days ago, and haven't heard a response. Just in case it got lost in a junk mail filter, I thought I would send it again. Thanks for your time. <Welcome... have not seen this> Hello crew! <Esther> I love your site, it has been a great source for learning about everything in my marine tank. I am only a few months away from the 2 year mark of my 75 gallon tank, the success is because of the reading I have done here and my library. For the past year and a half I have only had invertebrates in the tank. Mostly LPS, SPS, clams, 3 cleaner shrimp, and so much zooplankton crawling about, that there is no place without movement. I long ago, decided that the only fish that I would like to get is a goby shrimp combo. After long awaited patience (9 months), I like to see and observe before I buy, my LFS finally had a pistol shrimp. I have identified it as an A. randalli pistol shrimp. Amazingly it paired with a Tangora Goby from another store, and the two are as happy as they can be. I have had so much fun watching the shrimp interact, that I was wondering if I could get another A. randalli and hope to get them to pair. <Can...> But I need to know if Alpheids have different sexes? And if there are different sexes, any dimorphism that could be used to determine the sexes apart? <Mmm, Alpheids are eusocial species... Very hard to distinguish sexes externally... Females are characterized by gonopores with U-shaped slits on the coxae of the third pereopods (first walking legs) while males have oval gonopore openings on the coxae of the fifth pereopods (third or last walking legs. As you can assume, taking a look-see is easiest with the animals dead> Or are they hermaphroditic like my cleaner shrimp? <No, are sexually determinate> I have Googled this without much success, and our library does not have an extensive selection on marine care or animals. So I am hoping that someone out there has a better book selection than I have available and might be able to help me with an answer, or a book title I might be to get. <Try the terms "Sexing Alpheids" in your Google search tool> Thanks for your time. -Esther
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>