Double shrimp death - Anemone culprits

[Narideth]

This is about the most bizarre thing I've had happen yet.

So I have two tanks with anemones in them - one has a black widow BTA that's about 6 inches when expanded, and the other has a handful of rock flower anemones, each one between 2-3 inches.

Today, in a very strange series of coincidences, both of the cleaner shrimps in these tanks have ended up inside of an anemone.

The Rock flower tank had a blood red fire shrimp, and I woke up today and saw its tail sticking out of one of the anemones.

Now I saw the fire shrimp late last night roaming around the tank, so it was alive then. Somehow it ended up inside of the rock flower. I pulled out the remains just a bit ago and the insides were pretty much slurped out, leaving the shell behind.

Meanwhile, my BTA tank's black widow was open this morning and I don't specifically recall seeing the skunk cleaner, but I walked by a bit later and the anemone is super deflated as I've read happens when it's expelling remains or had a large meal, and the skunk cleaner is nowhere to be seen. I can't fully confirm that it's gone, but it seems mighty coincidental.

I'm now 0/3 for keeping red fire shrimp alive in my rock flower tank (other deaths were unrelated) so I think I'm going to stop spending top dollar on expensive shrimp! Maybe it's time for that goby/pistol shrimp pair.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Besides the....


So confused

 

[Narideth]

Besides the....


So confused

Um, what exactly are you confused about?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Everything

 

[Narideth]

That makes two if us.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

That makes two if us.

Good luck

 

[James M]

None of those anemones are capable of killing fish or shrimp. Their stings are strong enough to kill them
Unless they were dying/dead

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

On the same day, I suspect molts at first.

My inverts oddly all molt in both my tanks on the same day. Idk if a nem has the ability to suck the meat out of the shell before swallowing the entire shrimp.

 

[TurboTang]

Agreed the fire shrimp likely molted and is hiding.

 

[Narideth]

I'll update if I find the fire shrimp. The corpse looked strange... and it had molted fairly recently, but it's certainly possible. Shocked the heck out of me.

I wouldn't however be surprised if the BTA did eat the cleaner shrimp. I'd love for it to be otherwise and this is just me jumping to conclusions. Fingers crossed.

 

[TurboTang]

Yeah hope you find em ok - I've had my fire shrimp a few years now. I'd hate to have buy em today - they have a significant price tag at my LFS

 

[kevgib67]

Following, I want to know what happens.

 

[Narideth]

Update:

There's still no signs of either shrimp. I'm not convinced that the rock flower had anything to do with the blood fire shrimp's death, and I'm still hoping that he's somehow found the tiniest crack to hide in after a molt, but there are only so many holes in a small rockwork. IF he is dead, I'm certain it was coincidence and the flow that ended him up in an anemone mouth.

I'm about 95% certain that the big black widow ate the skunk cleaner though. It wasn't a fully grown shrimp, and this is a 6 inch bubbletip - as in the oral disk is 6 inches when inflated. I am immensely glad to see that it has fully recovered from its -feed/fight/accidental murder- of the shrimp, because when I first noticed, there was strange white fleshyness visible in the middle of the oral disk like it was dispelling something or was injured. I couldn't get a good view because it was super shriveled at the time.

While looking for the shrimp, I found pieces of a molt elsewhere in the tank, and then I also found the tail piece of the skunk cleaner beneath where the anemone sleeps the day after it disappeared. My theory is that the skunk cleaner molted, and in trying to find a safe place, found a murder monster with a taste for soft shrimps instead.

I'll update again in a few days with further confirmation or if anything more changes.

 

[Narideth]

Final report.

Neither shrimp ended up showing back up unfortunately. This bizarre incident has now officially come to a close, semi-mystery notwithstanding.

Thanks to everyone who sympathized or just walked this brief foray into the bizarre world of marine critters and their strange habits and even stranger disappearances.

Signing off for now!