stomatella varia??

[my69shelby]

I am just curious if anyone has heard or know Peppermint shrimp to eat these guys? I woke up the otherday and there were a bunch of the shells on the sand had no idea why. Well the next day when I woke up and I was looking in the tank just after turning the light on and one of my peppermint shrimps was eating one of the little guys. I wanted to know if this is normal or if I have an evil peppermint shrimp.

 

[Will C1]

must be an evil one, are you positive it was a live one and not just an empty carcas? i have seen all my shrip eat shedding,but not actuall shrip or crabs with the exception of my arrow crab that was eaten by my coral banded shrimp after he pissed her off.

 

[Anonymous]

your arrow crab was eaten by your banded coral shrimp, eh? seems unlikely to me. i'm willing to bet your arrow crab was already dead and the shrimp was just cleaning up the remains.

 

[Will C1]

no, i watched the fight he riped off an arm, then a leg and left him to die.

 

[Anonymous]

wow. i stand corrected then. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'm afraid Corals aren't known for being the most peaceful denizens. Must have been one heck of a fight, eh? Cuz arrows aren't pushovers, either. Shrimp fight! Sorry, just saw Southpark the other night.. 8)

 

[Will C1]

kinda thrilling but sad at the same time i hated to watch him die, but thats what you get trying to keep wild creatures. this was the second arrow i tried to add, the first misteriously disapeared, now i know what happened.

 

[Chucker]

Yep, peppermints and other shrimps are opportunists, and stomatella makes for a tasty snack. I've seen it happen.

 

[Kara]

I woke up one morning turned on the tank light and shreeked... EEK.
Ever see an arrowcrab just sitting on the sand..without any legs? It's NOT pretty. I had no idea what happened. Asked my LFS what they thought and they said 'arrows will drop legs if water quality is bad.' um.. no. My water tested out fine.

Soooo... I bought another cute arrow crab, this time bigger. After 2 days what did I see? My female (she's BIG!) coral banded shrimp (CBS) had my arrow crab by the leg and was jerking him around. I immediately came to the rescue and seperated them. After loosing 2 legs, arrow crab got smart and started living in and near my anemone, which CBS feared. If CBS was 'stalking' arrow crab, arrow would run to the anemone.

The other day, I saw arrow crab sneak up on CBS, grab her antenna and run.. Arrow crab draged her around the tank like twice before letting go.

While I was laughing and cheering on my little arrow crab, CBS (who was QUITE miffed) chased arrow crab into the anemone then pinched at him at claw's length and got him out of the anemone. CBS chased arrow crab full tilt around the tank for like 2-3 minutes then went back to her house.


It's a never ending battle between these two. I asked some people I trust with regards to reef inhabitants and they all told me that this behavior was definitely normal, especially in smaller tanks where there isn't a lot of territory.