Shrimp Gobies!

dzeadow

dzeadow

Premium Member
Well, I don't know if there's enough of you out there that have this interesting symbiotic relationship, but if there are, I'd like to start a discussion and a place to post some pics! I just got 2 Hi-fin gobies (Stonogobiops nematodes) and 2 tiger pistol shrimp (Alpheus bellulus) yesterday. To ensure that they would each pair up with one another I acclimated all 4 in the same box. This probably isn't adviseable, but it worked. Each goby found a shrimp and eventually found eachother. There wasn't any fighting until the two shrimp found eachother when the bigger one shot his pistol at the smaller one. I read somewhere in the invert section that having the pistol claw on opposite arms is one way to tell opposite sex. I don't know if this is true but i requested it and got it. They all share a ~11g tank hooked to my 45g main tank and sump system w/ huge skimmer.

I'll have to say these tiger pistols were a LOT bigger than I thought they'd be. They're probably 2" and 2.5" .. both equally or bigger than their goby friends. Ive got one Randalls pistol in my main display that I never see which was 3/4" when I got it. Maybe one day it'll start to show itself more often. I'm hoping that w/ the tank soley for the shrimp/gobies that I'll see a lot of them and I have so far. They're a bit skiddish so I have to take pictures from ~10' away so pardon the blurry pics. Here's a couple I got so far:

Hi-fin:

goby1.jpg


Another shot of same goby:

goby.jpg


And the same goby w/ it's huge tiger partner:

gobyshrimp1.jpg


The other two are a bit shy yet, but the shrimp come out a little when I feed pellets or brine shrimp to scavenge. So anyways, I'd like to see yours if you got 'em! I'd also like to know what you feed your shrimp if anything different?
 
My favorite thing to see in marine aquariums: the symbiotic relationship between a shrimp-goby and his/her pistol shrimp.

Here's a few pictures of my gobies sporting thier randalli pistol shrimps - ENJOY:

Yellow Rose Goby (Stonogobiops nematodes):
1001961yv6.jpg


1002784sp0.jpg


Guarding his hole - lol:
1002007gf2.jpg


I've seen gobies share shrimps as well:
1002046dg2.jpg


Yashia Goby (stonogobiops yashia):
1002988ym5.jpg


1002989io5.jpg


img0979hg9.jpg
 
Thanks Wonderboy! I love those pics man. Hopefully mine will stop being so skiddish soon so I can take pics like that. I'm just surprised at the size of the tiger's compared to the randall's, they're monsters!

What do you feed your pistols? Or do they just scavenge on stuff around the hole?
 
I let them scavenge - and their gobies feed them. Almost everytime I feed, the goby guarding the hole will grab food floating in the water collumn and spit it into the hole (after they've had their share of course - lol). I've even seen the shrimp waiting close to the entrance while the goby grabs food and gives it directly to the pistol shrimp. This is one of the main reasons why the shrimp goby and pistol shrimp relationship is my favorite thing to see in marine setups :]

note - I feed frozen mysis and hufa & spirluna enriched brine (plus vitamin additives)
 
I did brine yesterday and the gobies got brave and came out and got a few pieces that were close to their holes. I'll have to try the mysis today and see how they react. I spot fed one of the shrimp and it went nuts with all the stuff coming out of the baster.
 
I finally kind of learned how to get better shots w/ my camera! This is goby #2, he's still in his hole so he's not so sharp. Hopefully w/in the week they'll be less spooked by my presence. I can get close enough to watch them, but when I want to get close enough to take a picture they scurry back in the hole!

goby2a.jpg
 
This is my pair of aurora, I hope to breed them. Problem I am running into now is that it is impossible to see into the den, so I wouldnt know if they had eggs...

IMG_0699.jpg


They have a randalli shrimp in there too. They are very shy, pics have to be taken from the other side of the room. They have gotten better about being so shy after having them a few months, but they are still more skittish than I would have expected.
 
Those are GREAT pics, guys. I particularly like the pics of the goby protecting its lair.

I will try to get pics of mine tomorrow (I am terrible at pictures).

One thing that has always amazed me is how the shrimps always seem to do the burrow in front. You would think they would hide in back.

I feed my shrimp formula 2 pellets, dropped right at the burrow entrance with a stiff plastic tube. Sometimes the goby eats it also, but he pretty much takes care of himself.


nalbar
 
Awsome pics, that tiger goby in the first post is a monster compared to the goby. I never knew that the gobies would share there shrimps :) neato!
 
That monster tiger and goby have their main entrance on the back side of the rock. They just happened to have an opening on the front side this morning when I fed so I was able to capture a blurry pic. Now I know how to use my camera I'm hoping to get some better ones when I feed tomorrow. The shrimp seem to go nuts for ORA Glo... go figure.

Nice pic Lobster, I feel your pain about not being able to get too close.. only mine have been there for only a day. Looks like Wonderboy's are getting a little cocky! Can't wait for mine to start trying to fight me :D
 
I have a 5.5 with a yellow Watchman goby and an unidentified pistol shrimp. They aren't so much paired up as they just happen to share the same home.

An observation I've made is that the pistol excavates it's openings so as to maximize flow through the tunnels. When I changed direction of the returns the pistol closed old entrances and built new ones. Interestingly two of the new openings are oriented so that food dropped in front of the returns flows into the tunnel openings. Or maybe it's just coincidence............
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12323115#post12323115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
An observation I've made is that the pistol excavates it's openings so as to maximize flow through the tunnels. When I changed direction of the returns the pistol closed old entrances and built new ones. Interestingly two of the new openings are oriented so that food dropped in front of the returns flows into the tunnel openings. Or maybe it's just coincidence............
Click to expand...
My pair does this as well, it's quite amazing to watch them re-excavate an area after I move a powerhead, shift a rock, add a coral, or do anything else that alters the flow. The shrimp makes sure the main entrance to his cave is open to some fairly heavy current. The water movement invariably sweeps a few food particles straight into the cave each day, allowing the pair to have breakfast in bed -- they don't even have to stick their heads out the front door, the goby just moves towards the front, opens his mouth, and in it goes.

Everybody's pretty familiar with what a tiger pistol looks like, so I thought I'd post an old, favourite shot of my goby instead of one of the pair together. Orange-spotted gobies are pretty common, and seem a bit plain at first sight, but they're actually gorgeous little fish up close. This is Goober, stretching his fins in my old nano :)
osgFeb2.jpg
 
ACBlinky - I was hoping you'd drop in. I've seen a couple shots of your pair in another thread. I'd still like to see your tiger(Digger?)! How big is it?

Agu - Any pics of your YWG and myster shrimp?

Something that I've noticed just in the two mornings that I've had mine is this: The big tiger's main hole is towards the rear of the rock it slopes up on both sides and is very close to the wall. He also has an opening that he excavates at night at the front of the rock. It's like you guys both said, the food will drop there when I put it in. Funny thing is, he covered this hole up about mid day yesteday and now it's open again. I wonder if its because he got food there one day and since the door to that was closed last night I spot fed the back hole. I wonder if this will be a regular occurance..??
 
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shrimpgobies.htm

http://www.reefwonders.net/encyclopaedia/shr.asp?sezione=6&enc=13

Marine Breeder - discussion on breeding different shrimp gobies
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=49&sid=f3b5865981c4174f5e46b809e0586b47

This person actually had some Alpheus species spawn in his tank and was able to raise them to a certain point, it also has a pamphlet scanned in from Japan that shows some way to differentiate sexes in Alpheus sp.:
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=817
 
Here is my watchman and tiger pair. They have been together since they were both about an inch long. They have grown a lot in the past year. My daughter also has a dracula goby and candycane pistol shrimp pair in her nano. I just haven't got a good picture of them together yet.

82913Watchman_Goby___Pistol_Shrimp.JPG


Lisa
 
That's a nice clear pic! I should have gotten my rock a little into the substrate.. or did the tiger just cover it all w/ the burrowing?


Anyone else out there?

goby1b.jpg
 
Nice pic! I wish my pistols would come and and pose for pics like your guys' do. But then again they're still getting used to things.
 
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