celacanthr
Active Member
*ok first off im doing another already cause its a new month. If that doesn't fly then... Fishmamma made me do it!
"Did my glass tank just break!?"
This is the usual diologue that is associated with the loud !POP! that is made by those lovable little shrimp.
Anatomy
Well, I'll begin by telling ya'll about these little guys' family.
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Superclass- Crustacea
Class- Malacostraca
Superorder- Eucarida
Order- Decapoda
Suborder- Pleocyamata
Superfamily- Alpheoidea
Family- Alpheidae
Genus- Alpheus
Species- there are 3 main species in the aquarium trade-bellulus/soror/bisincisus
* as with most classificatons of inverts this may not be the same depending on who you ask, so we will let this stand unless of course you have a masters degree on up and you see a major problem with it.
Ok, with that doosy of a classification i will move on to the more interesting parts, the symbiosis and the snapping!
Bam- The Snapping
Ok well first off contrary to popular belief it is not actuallythe claws snapping but what occurs because of it. When an Alpheus snaps their claws the tissue in between the claws will actually create a vacuum like bubble. This bubble will implode, creating a very loud BAM, and a bit of light, which is not visible to the
[hr]
eye and is believed has no importance to the shrimp, just a by product.
Symbiosis
Well, this is a wonderful example of symbiosis where both parties benefit. The job of the shrimp is to basically to dig a hole and sometimes to bring food to the goby. The gobies job is to keep a watch out since they, compared to the shrimp, have superb eyesight. Whenever the shrimp leaves the tunnel he will rarely stray far for he needs his antennae to be touching the goby at all times so that when the goby begins to retreat from a threat the shrimp will be informed by way of the antenae and quickly retreat into the hole.
Care
Problems
Molting- If you have other crustacea in your tank then hopefully you have gone through this. For everyone else molting is where the shrimp exits its exoskeleton. this is how crustacea grow. Now after they molt the will be very shy for a while cause after they molt they have to form another exoskeleton, so at that moment they are about the consistency of peeled shrimp, very easy to eat, that is why they hide. For the Love of God please do not go moving around the rock looking for it. It will come out when its ready. Sometimes problems arise when they molt such as losing limbs or becoming deformed. this can usually. When a deformity happens often times it is fatal, because the internal organs were probably deformed also, which is not good. If they lose a limb just calm down they probably won't die, and next time they molt , provided that the conditions are right they will grow back their limbs!
Annoying- ok technically this is not a problem for the shrimp, but it is a major problem for the fish that they try and room with. these fish I speak of are burrowing fish such as Jawfish which do not naturally partner with these shrimp. The shrimp will decide that this is a goby friend that wants to be its partner. This will cause both the non-symbiotic fish and shrimp to become very stressed which is why I recommend alwys introducing the shrimp and goby at the same time.
"Did my glass tank just break!?"
This is the usual diologue that is associated with the loud !POP! that is made by those lovable little shrimp.
Anatomy
Well, I'll begin by telling ya'll about these little guys' family.
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Superclass- Crustacea
Class- Malacostraca
Superorder- Eucarida
Order- Decapoda
Suborder- Pleocyamata
Superfamily- Alpheoidea
Family- Alpheidae
Genus- Alpheus
Species- there are 3 main species in the aquarium trade-bellulus/soror/bisincisus
* as with most classificatons of inverts this may not be the same depending on who you ask, so we will let this stand unless of course you have a masters degree on up and you see a major problem with it.
Ok, with that doosy of a classification i will move on to the more interesting parts, the symbiosis and the snapping!
Bam- The Snapping
Ok well first off contrary to popular belief it is not actuallythe claws snapping but what occurs because of it. When an Alpheus snaps their claws the tissue in between the claws will actually create a vacuum like bubble. This bubble will implode, creating a very loud BAM, and a bit of light, which is not visible to the
[hr]
eye and is believed has no importance to the shrimp, just a by product.
Symbiosis
Well, this is a wonderful example of symbiosis where both parties benefit. The job of the shrimp is to basically to dig a hole and sometimes to bring food to the goby. The gobies job is to keep a watch out since they, compared to the shrimp, have superb eyesight. Whenever the shrimp leaves the tunnel he will rarely stray far for he needs his antennae to be touching the goby at all times so that when the goby begins to retreat from a threat the shrimp will be informed by way of the antenae and quickly retreat into the hole.
Care
- No copper ever ever ever!
- No, Ammonia please.
- No, nitrites please
No, triggers, eels, puffers, or other invert eaters.
Salinity= 1.023 < and > 1.027
Make sure your nitrates are lower than 30 please
Problems
Molting- If you have other crustacea in your tank then hopefully you have gone through this. For everyone else molting is where the shrimp exits its exoskeleton. this is how crustacea grow. Now after they molt the will be very shy for a while cause after they molt they have to form another exoskeleton, so at that moment they are about the consistency of peeled shrimp, very easy to eat, that is why they hide. For the Love of God please do not go moving around the rock looking for it. It will come out when its ready. Sometimes problems arise when they molt such as losing limbs or becoming deformed. this can usually. When a deformity happens often times it is fatal, because the internal organs were probably deformed also, which is not good. If they lose a limb just calm down they probably won't die, and next time they molt , provided that the conditions are right they will grow back their limbs!
Annoying- ok technically this is not a problem for the shrimp, but it is a major problem for the fish that they try and room with. these fish I speak of are burrowing fish such as Jawfish which do not naturally partner with these shrimp. The shrimp will decide that this is a goby friend that wants to be its partner. This will cause both the non-symbiotic fish and shrimp to become very stressed which is why I recommend alwys introducing the shrimp and goby at the same time.
