Peppermint shrimp?

[pseudorand]

Anyone want to guess at an ID. He was at the bottom of the bag that my live rock from the LFS came in. I almost put the whole thing in the trash, but then I thought I'd check and I rescued him.

Body shape and color look like peppermint to me, but I see no stripes of any kind. They did have one tank with aiptasia (I didn't buy from that tank), so perhaps they were using peppermints to suppress it.

 

[ScottR]

That does not look like a peppermint. In fact, it looks like the type of shrimp we eat.

 

[ScottR]

Wild guess: Xiphopenaeus kroyeri

 

[pseudorand]

Wild guess: Xiphopenaeus kroyeri

Okay, let me rephrase. He looks more like a peppermint than any other type of aquarium shrimp I could find a picture of.

I have garlic and butter at the ready if he's hostile.

 

[Wolf89]

wild brown tail shrimp. I've had them before, I catch a bunch to eat. They didn't hurt anything, they like to bury themselves in the sand. I didn't have corals at the time, so take it as you will

 

[paraletho]

Palaemonetes sp. commonly called grass shrimp. What area are you in?

 

[Wolf89]

Palaemonetes sp. commonly called grass shrimp. What area are you in?

Too big for a grass shrimp imo. They are 1-2 inch, these shrimp get up to like 8

 

[paraletho]

Definitely has the hump at the caridean bend. Maybe a species of Macrobrachium? I can’t see the rostrum but I don’t think that is Farfantopenaeus aztecus or duorarum.

 

[pseudorand]

Palaemonetes sp. commonly called grass shrimp. What area are you in?

I'm not n Colorado, but the LFS says they get much of their live rock from surrenders, so it could be from anywhere.

My tank is new with no corals yet so he'll get a reprieve at least until a have something valuable for him to eat. Right now I just have two large clarkiis, and good luck to him of he wants to mess with them.

 

[ScottR]

I'm not n Colorado, but the LFS says they get much of their live rock from surrenders, so it could be from anywhere.

My tank is new with no corals yet so he'll get a reprieve at least until a have something valuable for him to eat. Right now I just have two large clarkiis, and good luck to him of he wants to mess with them.

The only way the shrimp will eat your fish is if the fish dies first. They’ll be fine. It’ll eat whatever leftover food the fish don’t eat among other things in the tank.

 

[pseudorand]

I do love shrimp, both on my plate and in my tank. They're the first inverts on my list once nitrate tests prove the tank to be fully cycled. He's got a good home with me.