interesting... anyone else seen this kind of thing?

[lazuruskfp]

So I'm not sure if this is common occurence or what...
I have a fire shrimp in my 29g as well as a clarkii which live in perfect harmony or so I assume as the fire shrimp hides in a little cave in the back of my tank which my clownfish frequents for cleaning ect.
So lately my fire shrimp has stopped comming out to catch food with the rest of his tank mates... and I found this unusual so I have been watching him closely. So today I finally figured out why he has stopped strutting out to the front of the tank.... my clownfish is feeding him!?
The clownfish sleeps next to him at night and brings him large chunks of food and spits it a few cm above teh shrimps head after he recieves his fill... and the shrimp is loving it as it allows him to stay firmly secure in his overhang. Good for the shrimp but pisses me off cause now the shrimp is a recluse lol.
Just thought I'd ask if this is normal behavior for a clownfish?

 

[fishgeek01]

My clownfish tries to feed the xenia that it hosts in, but i have never seen or heard of a relationship between a shrimp and a clown, very interesting observations

 

[reefkprz]

never seen it never heard of it but that is really cool. (maybe he thinks its his host LOL have you seen him trying to rub on him *S*)

 

[1journeyman]

That's awesome. If you ever move them to a bigger tank it might be interesting to see if your current clown could teach this behavior to a mate.

 

[lazuruskfp]

I havn't noticed the clarkii rubbing on the shrimp first hand... but as I said he spends all night back there right next to him hovering pretty close. During the day he tends to explore like he always has.
regardless its pretty funny to watch him feed the shrimp even if he isn't 'hosting' it. If I catch him doing it again I'll grab a few pics and post em' for you guys to check it out.
anyway thanks for input

 

[alyssia]

That is really cool!