Goby/pistol shrimp pairing

tclipse · Apr 18, 2011

I bought a pistol shrimp 3 months ago (alpheus randalli), and he totally disappeared... I assumed he didn't make it. No burrow, no nothing. I have a layer of black sand on top of the original white aragonite layer, so if he had made a burrow, I would have seen it... no disturbance in the sand layers whatsoever.

I had been planning on getting a goby/shrimp pair, but assumed that the pistol was gone and that I'd have to buy a new one when I bought my goby. 4 days ago, I bought a Hi-fin banded/Yellow Rose goby, and he disappeared after the first day. I didn't see a body so I thought he might just be hiding in the rock..... and then this afternoon, my black/white sand was all mixed to hell in a small area, and there was the shrimp, burrowing away with his new bodyguard. Sorry for the crappy cell pic, I'll take one with my "new" (hand-me-down) 100mm next time I see him out.

I was under the impression that pistol shrimp would burrow with or without a goby, I guess in this case I was wrong... I'm just amazed that he sat around in a hole in the rock for three months waiting for a goby to come along.

GeoHawk · Apr 18, 2011

LOL! a great story. I had a pistol shrimp/ yellow watchmen goby in a 5 gallon on my desk for over a year. I ended up selling them when I moved, but it was a lot of fun to watch them work together. Beautiful Goby by the way!

greg0385 · Apr 18, 2011

thats a crazy little pair, i have a hard time grasping the idea of clowns living in a anemone. here you got a shrimp and a fish as a pair helping each other. i hope you got your rocks steady, hate for him to topple your rocks with his burrows. good luck
greg

MoneyPit · Apr 18, 2011

That's great !!! I have a pistol only now, my watchman goby went carpet surfing without a lifeguard. :sad: My pistol burrows all by himself. He even comes out most nights when I feed my corals and I always give him a piece of food. Do you ever hear him clicking at night. I do !