I've got baby skunk cleaner shrimp

[Jan]

So I was looking at this 10 gallon macro holding tank that i have wondering how I'm going to aquascape for my planted tank when all of a sudden I see what look like tiny fish. I'm wondering where they came from because the only thing in that tank are about 5 different types of macro, some small zoa colonies, etc.. but no fish. There's 1 large mexican turbo and that's pretty much it. I have tons of amphipods and copepods which these little fry don't look anything like. So I decide to feed the tank some cyclopeeze to see if they will eat it. Sure enough they start going after the cyclopeeze. I took my magnifying glass to take a closer look and see that they were baby cleaner shrimp. I could not figure out how they got in there then i realized that i moved a large AOG colony into that tank 2 days ago from my main display. They must have been hiding in it. There's nothing that would eat these little guys in the 10 glalon tank. They just threw a wrench in the works for me because I was going to strat to aquascape that tank but now I'll leave it alone to see what happens with them.

 

Has anyone ever had success in raising these?

[Coral Hind]

I only had one that ever made it.

 

Here is a good link with feeding info.

http://www.takelifeeasy.com/reefsuk/articl...eanershrimp.php

[gmubeach]

Wow thats super cool mine didn't make it my clownfish made quick work of them!

[wfoxfox]

Jan,

If anyone can raise these guys, it is you :-) What a great SWAP opportunity. I am sure I can come up with something to trade with you. LMK if you have one to trade.

 

Wayne

[dbartco]

cool

[Coral Hind]

How big is it? Any pics? Are you sure it isn't a mysis shrimp?

[Jan]

There are 3 of them. They are very tiny. They are very fast swimmiers and they look like fish. They have distended bellies that I'm guessing are really carapace. They also have telson and what appear to be piopods. They have a tiny red spot on what looks like the carapace. I figured they were skunk cleaners because those are the only critters I have that could produce something that looks like these guys. One of the two cleaners was filled with eggs a few days ago then it molted and the eggs were gone. I'll try to take a pic or a video and post it.

 

 

How big is it? Any pics? Are you sure it isn't a mysis shrimp?

[Hilary]

Very cool!

[bcjm]

I tried to breed the skunk cleaner few years ago. The longest time I could keep them is 20 days. I should try to feed them cyclopeezes the next time.

[pco1988]

Awesome!!!!

[Jan]

I'm pretty sure that these, yes these (I now have 3) are cleaner shrimp fry. I don't have a camera that can take a pick of them. They're getting bigger .

[gmubeach]

cool take a picture I want to see?

[dmward99]

cool take a picture I want to see?

yeah lets see them

[Jan]

I love to show them off but I don;t have a camera that can take a good shot of them. If someone has a camera that they think will work and they want to stop by, they're welcome to do so. I'd love for everyone to see these little guys.

[Jan]

Poor quality vid but here they are....

[treesprite]

very cool

[Coral Hind]

Hopefully they are cleaner shrimp, but to me they look like mysis shrimp.

[davelin315]

Same to me. Mysids will continue to swim and not be stationary but a cleaner shrimp that has left the pelagic stage will fully settle on the bottom and begin life as a benthic organism.

 

I'm not clear if they are classified as nektonic or not based upon the fact that they will and can swim often, but I don't believe they are because of the fact that they have legs and will stay down.

 

Are these little guys showing any sort of coloration?

[Jan]

Tthere appears to be a little red under their bellies and on the tail. Could you please share with me where you got your information? I've found some information but I'd love to read more.

 

I found this article http://www.takelifeeasy.com/reefsuk/articles/breedcleanershrimp.php

 

 

Same to me. Mysids will continue to swim and not be stationary but a cleaner shrimp that has left the pelagic stage will fully settle on the bottom and begin life as a benthic organism.

 

I'm not clear if they are classified as nektonic or not based upon the fact that they will and can swim often, but I don't believe they are because of the fact that they have legs and will stay down.

 

Are these little guys showing any sort of coloration?

[Coral Hind]

Large eyes are one way to tell if it is actually a cleaner shrimp. Like puppies growing into their large paws, the cleaner shrimp must grow into his large eyes.

 

http://www.breedersregistry.org/Reprints/FAMA/v17_aug94/scarlet.htm

[Jan]

Thanks, I'd already found these and the information on wetwebmedia and the breeder registry and the article I posted and more. I couldn't find anything the that had the information that Dave Lin posted. I'm very interested in that information. I'd really like to read it.

 

They may be mysid but I can't imagine where they could have come from because that partical tank had nothing in it but macro and a few frags which had been in there for at least 2 months. I only fed that tank phytoplex and oyster feast. I did transferred a rock from my display that is covered in AOG palys for about 1 week. Then I put it back in my display. shortly thereafter is when I discovered these shrimp. They were barely detectable with the naked eye. I have two skunk cleaners in my display that are always producing eggs and that's why i thought they may have laid their eggs and the babies were hiding out in the rock when I transferred it. Tiime will tell...

 

Large eyes are one way to tell if it is actually a cleaner shrimp. Like puppies growing into their large paws, the cleaner shrimp must grow into his large eyes.

 

http://www.breedersr...g94/scarlet.htm

Edited March 18, 2010 by Jan

[Coral Hind]

They could have come in on the frag bases or with the macro. I have them in all of my tanks. You probably have in the display tank too but the fish are keeping the numbers down so you don't see them as easily.

[bcjm]

I don't think they are cleaner shrimp. The cleaner shrimp larva do not swim that fast.

[L8 2 RISE]

I have to agree that they are mysis. I was really hoping they were cleaners because that would have been pretty cool, but I don't think they are. Cleaner shrimp don't tend to swim around so much as just perch or walk around whereas mysis seam to do nothing but swim which is what those are doing. The eggs could have been on some macro in the tank, or they could have snuck in. Mysis are so small when they're young that you have to really be looking for them to see them.

[davelin315]

All of my information is based on experience and is anecdotal. Much of it is also transferred from information that I have on crustaceans in general. When looking at shrimp, if you ever have the chance, when the cleaners are distributing their eggs, put a flashlight in your sump and see how many of the frye get collected there. I have done this many times for cleaners, peppermints, and coral banded shrimp. I typically don't rely on written resources because the majority of them are hobbyist based and much of what is written, but Joyce Wilkerson has a nice summary of their lives.

 

From my own personal information, I have examined three types of larval shrimp under a microscope - the scarlet/skunk cleaner, coral banded, peppermint. The coral banded frye are significantly larger than the other two which are lysmata and bear the red and white striping from hatching on. These are significantly different in appearance than mysids.

 

Also, based on my own experiences with the frye, the lysmata and the coral banded larvae tend to hang in the water column like mosquito larvae and use their tails to pull themselves backwards - when they do swim forwards they tend to be in jerky motions rather than the smooth swimming you see in adults of the lysmata. On the other hand, mysids tend to propel themselves smoothly forward without any backward movement but with rapid changes in direction.