baby pistol shrimp (1 Viewer)

[Style23]

i was cleaning out my filter sponges on my overflow box, and i have a milk carton cut in half that i was putting the sponges into, so i put the sponges into it and i heard this little clicking noise, i saw something on the filter that looked like a mysis shrimp but it was trying to move, and its what was actualy making the clicking noise, so i added water to the milk jug, and sure enough it is a baby baby pistol shrimp...

now i have been hearing clicking noises in my tank for around 6-7months, and many nights with a red flashlight fearing the worst, having 2 fish dissapear i figured it was a rather inteligent mantis out smarting me, but i guess this answered that...

also this may be very interesting to Brian as it is indeed captive bred because i have not added anything to my tank in a little over 4 months...
and with the loudness of the clicking this tiny guy couldnt have made what i have been hearing so i know there is a fullgrown one (or maybe 2) in my tank??

another question i have is i have an orange spotted prawn goby (skip in my signature) that they also call an orange spotted shrimp goby because it pairs with pistols, but i have never seen it by the pistol in my tank that i evidentaly have???

any more info about these would be greatly apreciated...

finally the pics!

the little fella may look rather large in this pic, but playing with the macro settings on my camera...and the zoom

the dark circle he is standing next to is a dime i put under the milk jug to give you an idea how big he is..

this also brings up the question, how many of these do i have in my tank??!?!

 

[Melodyepta]

That is very cool! Assuming he was bred in your tank, than I would say you've probably got more of these tiny guys. It will be interesting to hear what some of the folks who are studying these guys have to say about the odds of it being tank bred.

 

[Style23]

im hoping brian will chime in with some experience to help un-confuze me, this little guy cant be 4 months old, so i am curious to know how many i potetaly have in the system?? i searched my sump a little this morning and did not turn up any more.

i cant pull anything up on breeding information of them, not even a website saying its hard/impossible to do..

 

[Guest]

He is so cute!!!

 

[Style23]

the little guy did not make it through the day :'(...what i did was i added water to the 1/2 milk jug and floated it in my display tank to keep the tempratures the same or close, and yesterday squirted a couple of brine shrimp in there for it to eat, but evidentaly it didnt like something...

hopfully there are still more in the system that i will find as they get a bit bigger.

 

[Melodyepta]

Being in the light may have had something to do with his demise. Remember that these critters hide in holes and burrows and don't come out except to grab some food and drag it back into the hole/burrow it came from.

Floating him in the tank would have exposed him to continuous light...all day.

 

[Style23]

i understand what you are saying, but i only have 1 halide right now, and it is on one end of the tank, so he had light, but it was pretty dim...not intence like it was right above him, i dont think this would have killed him, but i guess it could have put him over the edge...unfortunatly :-(


anybody know aprox how many eggs a pistol shimp lays?

 

[Andy]

Hope you do not have a deep sandbed, my worst mistake...

 

[BrianPlankis]

Hey Style23,

Well, I can't help as much as I would like, but I did want to help out some:

1. It is possible that your pistol shrimp is an adult and has been in your tank for a long time. The size is not an indication of being a baby, as most pistol shrimp do not get larger than 1.5 inches and can be much smaller when full grown. I have a pistol shrimp in my tank that has been there almost 2 years now and while it has doubled in size it is still only a tiny bit larger than a dime.

2. It is possible for something that small to make very loud noises, when I first found my pistol when it was about 2/3 the size of a dime it was making a LOUD noise. Simply amazing something that small can make so much racket.

3. Successful shrimp reproduction is unlikely to take place in home "display" aquariums. The period shrimp larvae spend in the plankton phase needing to feed on phytoplankton or similar sized food can be quite long and they typically get killed by overflows, powerheads, predators (such as coral!) or skimmers or simply starve.

While it would be very very cool for it to have reproduced in your tank, and is theoretically possible (and I would be first in line for any additional babies), I would not bet money on it beating the odds and it was simply an unfortunate adult that got caught in your overflow.

Now, I have no idea of the quality of this article, but this might shed more light on your questions:

Delbeek, Charles. 1989. Common Shrimp (Suborder Natantia) for the marine aquarium. Aquarium management, reproduction and behaviour. FAMA 4/89.

Brian

 

[Style23]

wow i didnt know adults could be that small....all the ones ive seen have been like 2-3"...and it being completly translucent gave me the impression it was a baby....but now that i think of it since i found it i havnt heard any clicking noises in my tank....

that also makes me think no wonder so many people get these in their live rock, that is alot easier to hide then a 2.5" shrimp...hehe

 

[BrianPlankis]

Here is my little pistol shrimp:

Don't let the picture fool you, it was only 2/3 the diameter of a dime when this picture was taken.

Brian

 

[Style23]

thats about how big mine was...i miss the litttle guy :-(

well thanks for the insight, i had been keeping my eye out for more, but havnt seen any, but i guess you answered my question...