Striped Shrimp

[natwood]

I've just got this shrimp tonight, which was described as a "Striped Shrimp" but I'm not sure what it actually is, like what it's scientific name is. I was told it should eat aptasia and just wanted to read about it, but can't find it online. Does anybody recognise it?

 

[three-fingers]

With the aptasia information in mind...I would say peppermint shrimp .

Possibly also a Catalina peppermint shrimp (Lysmata californica), but you'll want to do more comparisons with pics online yourself.

Those guys wont eat aptasia, and are unsuited to the higher temperatures of the average tropical reef tank, they don't usually live long. Really should be kept at 15*C-18*C.

How big is it? If it's quite small it could still be a peppermint, the reason I believe it could be Lysmata californica is it looks slightly more stout than all the peppermint shrimp I've seen, and also looks kinda big. Could just be the photo though,

Also, where are you located? If your in the UK you can be fairly sure it's a proper peppermint.

 

[natwood]

With the aptasia information in mind...I would say peppermint shrimp .

Possibly also a Catalina peppermint shrimp (Lysmata californica), but you'll want to do more comparisons with pics online yourself.

Those guys wont eat aptasia, and are unsuited to the higher temperatures of the average tropical reef tank, they don't usually live long. Really should be kept at 15*C-18*C.

How big is it? If it's quite small it could still be a peppermint, the reason I believe it could be Lysmata californica is it looks slightly more stout than all the peppermint shrimp I've seen, and also looks kinda big. Could just be the photo though,

Also, where are you located? If your in the UK you can be fairly sure it's a proper peppermint.

I don't think it's a peppermint. That's what I was after but they didn't have any in, but I was told that this should/might get rid of aptasia as they had done in the past. Yeah it's just the picture that makes it look big. It's fairly small in comparison to my other shrimp (cleaner shrimp and blood shrimp). I'd say probably 2 inches in length.

The more I look at the picture (the shrimps hidden in my tank now) the more I think it could actually be a peppermint, but just a pale one. Oh well, whatever it is I just hope it eats my one aptasia before it spreads!

 

[natwood]

Over night my shrimp molted! It's a darker red/pink now now. Does anybody recognise it now? Here's a pic...

 

[shibby]

looks like a peppermint to me

 

[bae1994]

yep peppermint

 

[natwood]

Ooh snazzy. Didn't think I'd managed to get one. Unfortunately it's not yet eaten my aiptasia but then it is fairly shy so maybe it will at some point!

 

[natwood]

Ahh I just found on a website that mine is a fake peppermint shrimp which is called a Californica and has silver stripes with a red trim whereas true Peppermints have a thicker silverish stripe with red line in the centre. That's probably why it's not eating my aiptasia! Lol.

 

[three-fingers]

Yup, that's the one I was talking about in my post above - Catalina peppermint shrimp (Lysmata californica) .

Unfortunately, it wont last long at tropical reef temperatures . Shame for the little guy. If you happened to have a small tank spare, you could chuck in a couple of bits of live rock and a small internal filter/powerhead to set up a cooler water tank for him.

That's a real shame your LFS was selling them for tropical setups, from what I gathered it's more common to see these in the US.

 

[natwood]

I've been searching online to find out more about the Lysmata Californica, which is also known as the Red Rock Shrimp, and it says that their environment is demersal; marine. Their climate is tropical and they come from the Eastern Pacific. I've also read about them being from coral reefs. Does this not mean that it's ok in my marine tank after all?

 

[three-fingers]

Nope, they are listed everywhere I've seen (couple of books I have, all aquarium pages mentioning it) as cooler water species, the come from California and at constant tropical marine aquarium temperatures, it wont live long.

Check these pages:

http/fish.suite101.com/article.cfm/peppermint_shrimp_imposters

L. californica is a temperate species and, therefore, inappropriate for the tropical reef tank.

http/www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/lysmata_debelius.htm

for coldwater marine aquarists, there is occasionally offered a sixth cleaner species hailing from California (Lysmata (Hippolysmata) californica)

http/www.tropicalfishfinder.co.uk/article_detail.asp?id=92

By contrast, the giant peppermint shrimp Lysmata californica is a species best avoided by most aquarists, requiring a coldwater (10-20 degrees C) tank rather than a tropical one. It could be kept in a coldwater tank featuring British marine fish and invertebrates, or else a tank based around the various coldwater fish from the Pacific Ocean that sometimes get traded, such as Catalina gobies (Lythrypnus dalli).

http/www.aquariumconnection.com/getArticle.php?ArtID=393

The Pacific Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata californica) will not eat Aiptasia and also requires cooler water to even survive in the aquarium.

 

[natwood]

Nope, they are listed everywhere I've seen (couple of books I have, all aquarium pages mentioning it) as cooler water species, the come from California and at constant tropical marine aquarium temperatures, it wont live long.

Check these pages:

http/fish.suite101.com/article.cfm/peppermint_shrimp_imposters

L. californica is a temperate species and, therefore, inappropriate for the tropical reef tank.

http/www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/lysmata_debelius.htm

for coldwater marine aquarists, there is occasionally offered a sixth cleaner species hailing from California (Lysmata (Hippolysmata) californica)

http/www.tropicalfishfinder.co.uk/article_detail.asp?id=92

By contrast, the giant peppermint shrimp Lysmata californica is a species best avoided by most aquarists, requiring a coldwater (10-20 degrees C) tank rather than a tropical one. It could be kept in a coldwater tank featuring British marine fish and invertebrates, or else a tank based around the various coldwater fish from the Pacific Ocean that sometimes get traded, such as Catalina gobies (Lythrypnus dalli).

http/www.aquariumconnection.com/getArticle.php?ArtID=393

The Pacific Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata californica) will not eat Aiptasia and also requires cooler water to even survive in the aquarium.

Thanks for that. I'm going to ring my LFS and complain and then take it back. I wish I had a book that said it in it though so I could show them proof. I don't want them to keep selling them..it's cruel!

 

[three-fingers]

"The 101 Best Marine Invertebrates" By Scott W. Michael (TFH professional series) lists them at the back as "species to avoid" because of their temperature preferences. LFS may have that in stock, so you could show them if they do.

It's probably not the LFS fault, they are being lied to by their supplier too.