Emperor Shrimp experiences?

[Calappidae]

I'm curious to know a little more about these guys. I don't see them brought up too often in discussion, and it's kinda understandable why.

I know these guys need host cucumbers/sea slugs/nudibranches to survive. I was wondering if anybody has had these with lettuce slugs or yellow cucumbers.

I know their primary host is medusa worms, but let's be honest.. a couple foot long worm that can wipe out an entire aquarium on death or in a powerhead for a couple rice sized shrimp seems a little unappealing imo. That's why I'd like to find alternatives.

So has had experience with these guys?

Source image: http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/v/reefwreck/Philippines/acr.jpg.html
I find it interesting that this pair is on a sea star...

 

[snorvich]

I have had much experience with them in the wild (photographing them) but never tried them in my aquaria.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I have had them multiple times and neither lasted long. The first time I tried getting them to live with lettuce slugs- they wouldn't have it and just went around by themselves. I then put in a sea hare (nope) and finally turbo snails. They kinda liked the turbos but in the end they wouldn't stay with the snails. The second time I had them, I found what I thought was the perfect host- a black and pink sea cucumber. They did seem to live well with the cucumber, but the cucumber would wedge itself into the rocks and one day they were just both gone. I have heard of people keeping them successfully with other cucumbers and I think it is very possible as long as they are not with any fish that might eat them (I think one of my fish may have eaten them the second time). If you do it, give them their own, smaller, established tank and I would try a cucumber of some kind.

 

[Calappidae]

Shame to hear they don't do too well.

I'd suspose a dedicated system with screened filters and no other inhabitants (fish, larger shrimp, crabs) would treat them well so long as they'd have a host. Seems like medusa worms are the best way to go, but unforunately, the worm itself is another challenge of it's own. (fraility, nuking the tank, size)

@Bongo Shrimp, That cucumber was Holothuria sp. right? Trying to gather the various species used. The snails sound interesting.

I wonder if they'd fare with Sea Apples. I might ask somebody to give emperors a try, they have a sea apple dedicated tank. I don't know about the fish though.

I'd like to try these myself but I think in the case of keeping them, my biggest issue would be the cuke itself. To say the least, I was never really a fan of cuke due to nuking capabilies (I know usually we just run carbon, but cukes are a little more potent if I'm not wrong). The shrimp would be not a problem, if it weren't for the host. If I try it, it'd probably be a medusa worm combo as those seem like the most reliable options, bar some reef photography of sponge eating nudis (which is definitely not going to work out.)

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

It was indeed Holothuria sp.. I wouldn't worry about the nuking issue because I have had multiple cukes die on me and nothing ever happened. Usually they just slowly shrink and then waste away. A friend of mine has even had multiple sea apples over the years and when he lost them his tank was fine. It was a 300g system but still. The nuking issue is more of a myth as I have never found anyone who actually had it happen to them. If it did happen, I would think something in the tank would have to be very wrong and something very sudden happened to the cuke (temp spike, caught in powerhead...). I would try a normal Holothurian from the caribbean (cheap, relatively easy to find) instead of the medusa worm. Medusa worms are better left in the wild and are nearly impossible to feed despite what some people may say.

 

[Shawn O]

I can't imagine any species not surviving without a host as long as there is no predation, unless the host is the only source for their nutritional needs. Very pretty shrimp though.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I can't find the article but I once read that they need the host for nutrition like you said. I mean IDK for sure but I certainly won't be the one who tests it .

 

[Calappidae]

They do eat the nutrition on the host, but I'm not sure what exactly that is. I think they just eat the mucus, similarly to acro crabs and acropora coral.

 

[nmotz]

I read that they feed off the fecal matter of the host (source: LiveAquaria, http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=265). Bottom line is that this shrimp, unlike some other species that may be hosted by anemones or whatever, actually requires its host to survive. For example, sexy shrimp can live just fine without a host anemone/LPS coral even though they rely on them in the wild , but an urchin shrimp must have an urchin host to survive. Trapezius sp. also require a live, branching SPS like acro/pocillopora because they feed off the mucus of the coral and may even be supplemented with an extra protein that the coral produces to sustain the crab.

It's a shame that some creatures are so dependent on their commensal relationships because it makes them difficult or even impossible to keep for many people. I just don't have the space or inclination to ever get a host Holothuria sp. or whatever. Otherwise, I'm with Calappidae in that I'd love to have an Emperor shrimp.

 

[Calappidae]

I don't know any shrimp that are sold commercially which host urchins (would LOVE to get ahold of coleman shrimp though. Has anybody even got them before?)

Occasionally I see an urchin crab but that's it.

 

[nmotz]

The article from LiveAquaria said that they used to get them in sometimes, but I haven't seen any in the market since I've been in the hobby. It's interesting to see just how many species of shrimp are not available for one reason or another. I wonder why? If Emperor Shrimp are sold, why not Coleman Shrimp or other attractive species? In my opinion, it's probably best to leave these type of species in the ocean since many people aren't willing to provide them with the proper commensal relationship. Still, for those of us who are willing to do what's required it would be nice to have the option.

 

[snorvich]

I don't know any shrimp that are sold commercially which host urchins (would LOVE to get ahold of coleman shrimp though. Has anybody even got them before?)

Occasionally I see an urchin crab but that's it.

Actually, the urchin hosts, and the shrimp associates. Coleman shrimp only associate with fire urchins and those would be difficult to sustain in our aquaria.

 

[Calappidae]

Actually, the urchin hosts, and the shrimp associates. Coleman shrimp only associate with fire urchins and those would be difficult to sustain in our aquaria.

I use the term "host" incorrectly more times then I can count despite being well aware of the definition.

My bad.

I think the issue with coleman shrimp isn't keeping them, but actually the distribution, where collection restriction is a lot more prevelant. Fire Urchins are also not the funnest of urchins to collect as their name implies, they sting pretty bad, and extracting the shrimp from their host would be an even bigger challenge.

We do see urchin crabs occasionally though.. not quite sure what the difference between those and coleman shrimp are behavior and distribution wise.