Pistol Shrimp ID

chapagetti · Nov 5, 2011

hey guys, i found 3 of these pistol shrimp in the live rock i just purchased and put them in my tank.. my first thought was, wow freakin sweet!! time to find a watchman goby to try to pair one of them! but after some research and asking around, this may not be the type of pistol shrimp that forms a symbiotic relationship with a goby?? furthermore, these guys might become preditorial and kill my fish & inverts?? is this true? can anyone ID this particular pistol shrimp? all three look like this and I'd say they were about 3/4 inch to 1 inch in size. Seeing as how the live rock came from florida, are these carribean pistol shrimp? these shrimp are actually the reason why I decided to go on forums and try to ID them and get some info. I spent a lot of time aquascaping only to find out I might have to take everything out just to pick these little buggers out.. I haven't seen them since I put them in the tank! any advice would be greatly appreciated.

pumarjr · Nov 5, 2011

those are snapping shrimps. Great for the aquarium. They will pair with a goby and love company. When you have two of them, they will sometimes share the space and help each other, like one will keep a lookout while the other eats. if the opportunity presents itself, it can pick on smaller shrimp.

Cubbies · Nov 5, 2011

Yep Snapping Pistol it is. They are awesome!

chapagetti · Nov 5, 2011

isnt a snapping shrimp the same as a pistol shrimp? its just another nickname for it right? so this is the type of snapping / pistol shrimp that will pair with a yellow watchman goby in a symbiotic relationship? do all species of snapping shrimp pair with watchman gobys then? thnx for response guys

tclipse · Nov 5, 2011

Looks kinda like Alpheus immaculatus, but could be a diff species... either way looks like an Alpheus spp. and *should* make friends with goby. there are other goby options other than watchman's though..... dracula, hi-fin banded, randall's, yasha, etc

try to find out if it's one of the bigger species, some of them can turn aggressive to other inverts when they get to 3" or so...

chapagetti · Nov 5, 2011

tclipse said:
Looks kinda like Alpheus immaculatus, but could be a diff species... either way looks like an Alpheus spp. and *should* make friends with goby. there are other goby options other than watchman's though..... dracula, hi-fin banded, randall's, yasha, etc

try to find out if it's one of the bigger species, some of them can turn aggressive to other inverts when they get to 3" or so...

thank u sir for the insightful response. i hope they stay small and pair with some gobys! nice to know there are more than 1 type of goby that will pair with pistols!

caudill187 · Nov 5, 2011

Now thats an inspiring R2R moment! Nice work on the ID's guys. Welcome to R2R Chapagetti

TooTime · Nov 5, 2011

If you do decide you need to get them out or want to sell one or so they are really easy to catch. You just take a water bottle and cut the top half off and tuck it back inside the bottom to form a funnel. Then at lights out take a piece of food and place it bottle and put it next to where they are. In am you will have caught most the shrimp on your tank.

chapagetti · Nov 6, 2011

@caudill187 thanks! i feel at home already

lol

@tootime thanks for the tip! im a little confused though. i get the first part.. cut the top half off.. then I tuck it back inside the bottom? is there a picture you can show me?