Randals pistol hitchhiker

[KurtsReef]

Got a few hitchhikers on a coral I picked up today...one is a Randals pistol shrimp. Have not ID'd the other two yet.

Keep it or sell it is my immediate question.

What are the cool things/advantages and what are the negatives to such an animal.

Have a 220g mixed reef with lots of fish including several small clown gobies.

 

[yiliyang]

When pistols are larger and badly tempered, they MAY eat tiny fish and shrimps. Other than that they are very much harmless. It will for sure to get lost in a tank of your size, if you start seeing your TINY animals go missing, it could be the pistol.

If you search you-tube, there is a cool clip where a pistol shrimp used its pop to stun a cleaner shrimp and eating it. It was a fun video.

I like weired animals people don't want, if you decide sell the hitchers, please PM me. Even the ones you have not identified.

 

[SUPERHERO2943]

Coolest thing is that pistol shrip form a relationship with some gobies where the goby watches out for the shrimp and the shrimp shares its food with the goby.

 

[KUDA]

A randall's pistol shrimp doesn't get big and aggressive. The Carribean bullseyes ones can take down a shrimp, but thats about it.

 

[KurtsReef]

Yes, if they get into the display they are there to stay...have them in a plastic dish right now still undecided what I want to do with them. Need to do some reading tonight I guess.


Here are shots of the pistol and crabs that came in today.

Any specific ID's would be great.

 

[KurtsReef]

Boy those photos bite. Will try to get some better images.

 

[yiliyang]

Hey buddy, what you have there is not a Randolli pistol shrimp. It does not even seem to be a pistol shrimp at all, a Randolli is clear with scarlet horizontal stripes and some yellow on the bottom. The pistol shrimp also have 2 different claws, one is the big fat one that snaps and the other is a bit long and skinny. The crabs looks menacing, I would not put them in a display tank until I find out more about them.

regardless, please do not destroy them, give them to someone who don't mind keeping them.

 

[KurtsReef]

It is most definitely a pistol shrimp of some sort, may not be a randolli. I assume the sign of a pistol is the clicking noise this one makes any time you disturb it.

 

[gumby007]

I have an "Alpheus randalli" Randall's pistol shrimp that was a hitchhiker. He's been in there about 1.5 years now and hasn't harmed a thing. He is hard to find, but you can hear him all the time. I have ordered a High fin red banded goby for him, but my LFS has still yet to place the order, 3 weeks later, man they stink. Anyways, super cool to have, and I think he mainly feeds on pods and whatever else may come near his lair.

As far as what you have, it doesn't look like a "candy stripe" pistol, but maybe it's too young to have developed identifiable colors/characteristics? I'm not sure, but they sure do look cool. Good luck.

My theory is, if it's a hitcher, I try and let them co-habitate. If livestock starts to go missing, then I choose what to remove before more destruction.

 

[gumby007]

Oh, and I wanted to add, from what I remember in reading about my pistol, sometimes in molt they can lose their "snapping" claw and not regrow, but a genetic deformity will take place or something to that effect, which can cause the growth of 2 "snapping" claws. I think I read that its a rare occurance, but would be neat.

 

[LeslieH]

It's the snapping shrimp (= pistol shrimp) Alpheus lottini, an obligate symbiont of pocilloporid corals. The crabs are Trapezia, also obligate coral symbionts. They protect the coral against predation and primarily eat mucus produced by the coral. Corals with these symbionts are healthier & grow faster than ones without them.

Snappers/pistols are primarily in the family Alpheidae. Alpheids can have 2 large claws, 1 large & 1 small claw, or 2 small claws. Some have claws so small they don't look like they belong to the same family as the more familiar species like the tiger or randall shrimp. There are some members of other families that also have big claws & produce snapping sounds.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Leslie is right. Thank you Leslie!

Alpheus lottini

 

[KurtsReef]

Thats the one, thanks a lot for the ID Leslie.

It is in the tank along with the two crabs. I released one crab near the same Poc, and the other at the other side of the tank, the next morning the one released on the other side of the tank had found another of my Poc's to host in.

Appreciate the help, and glad I did not toss them out.