Mystery (pistol?) Shrimp

Zakary2003 · Jul 18, 2023

Can anyone tell what this shrimp is from my crappy videos? I think it might be a pistol shrimp, which would make sense since I've heard the clicking sounds. Whatever it is, should I attempt to remove the little guy or leave him be? If he is harmless I don't mind the clicks and stirred sand, but I did lose an emerald crab and some hermits recently and I'm wondering if this guy is to blame.

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littlefoxx · Jul 18, 2023

Zakary2003 said:
Can anyone tell what this shrimp is from my crappy videos? I think it might be a pistol shrimp, which would make sense since I've heard the clicking sounds. Whatever it is, should I attempt to remove the little guy or leave him be? If he is harmless I don't mind the clicks and stirred sand, but I did lose an emerald crab and some hermits recently and I'm wondering if this guy is to blame.

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It does appear to be a pistol, hard to tell. What colors is it?

Alexraptor · Jul 18, 2023

Looks like a pistol.

And yes they can and definitely will take hermits and other crustaceans that hang around the bottom of the tank, especially if its a species that doesnt pair with gobies.

I have Alpheus parvirostris that hitchhiked into one of my tanks about a decade ago, and I didn't stop loosing hermits until I got "bigger hermits".

Zakary2003 · Jul 18, 2023

littlefoxx said:
It does appear to be a pistol, hard to tell. What colors is it?

It is mostly brown with bluish claws

Zakary2003 · Jul 20, 2023

So I caught the little guy. Can anyone tell me if I should get rid of him or not? Will this species pair with a goby? Is it a threat to CuC and livestock?

littlefoxx · Jul 20, 2023

Zakary2003 said:
So I caught the little guy. Can anyone tell me if I should get rid of him or not? Will this species pair with a goby? Is it a threat to CuC and livestock?

Hard to tell with the lighting in the photo but look up tiger pistol shrimp and see if it looks like that in person! If it is a tiger, it is one that pairs with a goby.