Pistol Shrimp attacking Xenia Coral

[qterry22]

I have a pistol shrimp who is attacking and killing a colony of Pulsing Xenia. Fortunately the stuff grows like a weed and I am not in danger of losing all of it. However I was curious to see if anyone else have seen or caught there pistol shrimp doing the same.

Before relocating my reef the pistol shrimp used to live under a rock and make burrows in and around that rock. After the move and the re-aquascaping of my tank he initially set up shop under the same rock. However he has since moved up onto some live rock that the Xenia is growing on. I believe he has claimed this territory and wont be happy until its as he sees fit. He doesn't attack all the Xenia. Just a few select stalks that I suppose are in his way or in a place he deems unnecessary.

I will try to catch a video of it and post it.

 

[iretthepirate]

Interesting guess he wants them gone maybe u should scrape them off so he isn't mad

 

[qterry22]

Here is the video of the Pistol Shrimp attacking part of the Xenia colony. I have also added some pictures to better show you the actual damage to the colony and that it is in fact killing those specific stalks. Another pictures shows a healthy undamaged stalk of the colony that is not being harassed by the shrimp. I was initially going to remove the shrimp or remove that part of the colony. However I figured that my tank is an ecosystem and it would be better to let nature take its course. If the Xenia starts to melt and fall apart I will then remove it to prevent polluting of the tank. Let me know what you guys think.

Video:
[video=youtube;8vvv0v__PdY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvv0v__PdY&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Damage to colony.

Close up of the damage.

Healthy stalk of colony.