Who ate the peppermint shrimp?

[annette34429]

My 12g FOWLER has only a percula clown, some hermits, a couple of turbos and a rose anenome, it did have a peppermint shrimp.

I came home from work the other day and the only thing remaining of a peppermint shrimp was his lower torso. The rest of him was completely gone, antennae, head, thorax and legs. He will be missed.

Can anyone venture a guess as to who ate the shrimp from the list of suspects above? I had seen the shrimp once trying to steal food from the anenome. Did the anenome carry a grudge? Did the shrimp get too close?

 

[Anonymous]

Are you positive that he didn't just molt?

Sometimes shrimp hide for awhile after they molt waiting for their new skin to toughen up a bit.

Louey

 

[annette34429]

Funny you should say that...
He DID just molt the day before the incident. I have a CBS that molts regularly and I can ID that.
However, when I removed the remains there was no doubt what it was.
<sniff>

 

[Anonymous]

I have a CBS

There's your answer if they're in the same tank.

It could also be that the Shrimp just died and the scavengers are only 1/2 done cleaning up the corpse.

 

[annette34429]

Nope, not in the same tank. The CBS resides alone with a damsel in a 3g I set up on my desk to get him away from my clown and anemone. My husband Chuck picked him out at the LFS, we later found out how aggressive he is. In our house the CBS is known as "Chuck's B@$!@*# Shrimp".

 

[Anonymous]

Hard to say. I would almost bet on natural causes.

 

[Anonymous]

I assume you do regular water changes to keep the iodine at a level to assist in molting...?

 

[Aquatic Exports]

I went and asked my husband before I finished reading all the posts and he said that perhaps the shrimp molted and didn't have it's "protective armour" and the crabs got to it.

I just happened to see this post cause one of the tanks I set up lost it's mated pair of Coral Banded Shrimp and we think that it was the Sargassum Trigger.

It's all a part of nature.
Leslie

 

[Anonymous]

Leslie

:welcome:

Triggers are known to eat shrimp and hermit crabs so that would be a good assumption.