lysmata ambionensis attacking crocea clam

[tnyr5]

i'd been wondering why my crocea was exhipiting a pinched mantle after many months of perfect health and growth. so i stayed up late expecting to find pyramidellid snails but no, i found my pair of skunk cleaners attacking the clam and picking at it's mantle. Now , these lil sob's are anythign but starved, ( they get marine angel formula and spirulina enriched brine 2x a day) so suffice it to say i just wanted to stomp on em like a pair of cockroaches !

 

[Fridmani]

That's very common for shrimps to bother clams. In some instances, the clams are not bothered by the shrimps and other instances, it causes the clam to get stressed and die. Sometimes, shrimps bother clams because they can sense that the clam is not doing well.

In any case, I would remove either the clam or shrimps until the clams gets better.

 

[tnyr5]

oh i did remove the clam immediately and put him in my sps tank. He's fully extended and healthy as he's ever looked already so i doubt there was anything wrong with him to begin with

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I disagree. I do not think cleaner shrimp would attack a clam if they were well fed. Be sure there is nothing wrong with the clam.

 

[Fridmani]

I've seen cleaner shrimps probe clams all of time looking for particles or algae on the clam shell. If the clam is established and healthy, the probing doesn't bother the clam, but if it is at all stressed, then the probing can further stress out the clam and cause its demise.

 

[tnyr5]

well the clam looks as good as new now that it's away from it's molesters. I'm sorry but i'm absolutely positive it was the shrimp, they're a poorly behaved pair to begin with, picking at my anemone when i feed it and such.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

ANY shrimp would pick at an invert if it has a tasty morsel. Since clams dont usually do this, I wouldnt think this was the case. However, if you insist the shrimp are the culprits, get rid of them. You have an anomolous pair of cleaner shrimp.