An Odd Symbiotic Relationship

[Shabalaba]

Hello all,

I have a beauty of a blue spotted jawfish that I've had in my 125g reef for 2 years.

I have a 4 inch sandbed in this tank, so he has been quite happy excavating a deep burrow under my hammer coral. He will defend it from all intruders such as snails, hermits and emeralds, and it is quite amusing to see him trying to dissuade the conchs. He doesn't mind any fish except my goby when he gets too close (although the sleeper goby's burrow is 6 inches away).

However, as my title would suggest, there is one intruder that my jawfish has let live in the burrow with him. An emerald crab.


I have about 10 emerald crabs in this reef as I think they are super cool and have personally never experienced any issues with them. I have seen this jawfish chase every other emerald crab away, including some big ones. But this one emerald will go out and graze, come back, and rest for hours in the burrow, ect. Sometimes he even assists in the defense of the burrow, as my jawfish chose a spot in the middle of a busy tank.

My question is, has anyone heard of or experienced anything like this? I know pistol shrimp will, and I have 2 in this tank, but I'm surprised by an emerald crab.

 

[Shabalaba]

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have a similar situation with one of my huge engineers. The burrow is defended except for one emerald crab that is allowed in. The crab is easy to identify as it only has one claw and always has had only one, so i know its not some other crab. I have gotten used to seeing it, but its nice to see that someone else is as baffled as I was when I saw it.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

The pearly jawfish I used to have would pitch a tantrum if my emerald crab got in her burrow. She would grab at it, pull on it's legs, try to push it out, and try to blow it away with her tail (often causing a bit of a sandstorm).

That's a beautiful blue-spotted jawfish though, great work with keeping one happy and healthy for two years! Not many folks can say that

 

[Shabalaba]

I have a similar situation with one of my huge engineers. The burrow is defended except for one emerald crab that is allowed in. The crab is easy to identify as it only has one claw and always has had only one, so i know its not some other crab. I have gotten used to seeing it, but its nice to see that someone else is as baffled as I was when I saw it.

That's very cool. It was quite a surprise, especially for as bad a rep crabs usually get.

 

[Shabalaba]

That's a beautiful blue-spotted jawfish though, great work with keeping one happy and healthy for two years! Not many folks can say that

Thank you! He made a jump into the overflow once, and has some scarring from his adventure but otherwise he's been great!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

HA! Love it!

 

[Eva Rose]

My blue spot jawfish lives with a yellow watchman goby. See my avatar. I have had them 3+ years. They share a burrow and often peer out the same hole . Other times one looks out the entrance hole while the other looks out the exit hole (it’s like they share guard duty of the burrow). The jawfish doesn’t like when the YWG gets feisty and displays (widens its jaws) at tangs etc. overhead. He tries to get the YWG to run back inside the ‘safety’ of the burrow. My jawfish loves to get small shells from me to add to their cave. Actually other fish just ignore these two but they take burrow defense as a serious duty. He occasionally with use coral for fencing/barbed wire.

 

[Shabalaba]

That is so cool!!

My blue spot jawfish lives with a yellow watchman goby. See my avatar. I have had them 3+ years. They share a burrow and often peer out the same hole . Other times one looks out the entrance hole while the other looks out the exit hole (it’s like they share guard duty of the burrow). The jawfish doesn’t like when the YWG gets feisty and displays (widens its jaws) at tangs etc. overhead. He tries to get the YWG to run back inside the ‘safety’ of the burrow. My jawfish loves to get small shells from me to add to their cave. Actually other fish just ignore these two but they take burrow defense as a serious duty. He occasionally with use coral for fencing/barbed wire.

 

[NY_Caveman]

That is great. Reef tanks are always full of surprises. Love this hobby.

 

[Brian1f1]

Nice blue spot. Are you running the tank cool? What’s the secret to keeping it thriving?

 

[Eva Rose]

That is so cool!!

Your jawfish is adorable. Mine would not share with a crab. Funny how they pick cave mates.

 

[Shabalaba]

Nice blue spot. Are you running the tank cool? What’s the secret to keeping it thriving?

Thats a hard question to answer as a lot of sources will tell you different things, so take this answer with a grain of salt. My experience has not been as much to do with temperature as it has been with maintaining a deep sand bed, very peaceful tank mates, and very stable parameters. Lids are also a must as they will jump no matter how happy they are eventually.