harlequin shrimp eating star

[traveldrop]

i recently just bought a harlequin shrimp and i feed it a starfish but he flip it over and is just has been standing on it for 9 hours without eating the starfish is this normal

 

[i cant think]

i recently just bought a harlequin shrimp and i feed it a starfish but he flip it over and is just has been standing on it for 9 hours without eating the starfish is this normal

he will be eating it, they eat the tip of the leg first then slowly go to the central disk of the starfish. he may be eating the suctioning part of the starfish first though.

 

[exnisstech]

I had one that used to do that. It was almost like it kept the starfish flipped over so it would not be able to crawl away. It was an interesting critter and did a good job getting rid of the astrina starfish. After that I got tired of cutting legs off of chocolate chip stars so I traded it in.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yes, that's normal - and for both of the reasons mentioned above. Harlequin shrimp frequently flip their prey both to keep them from escaping and so that they can access the starfish's tube feet (the suction cups on the under side), which seems to be their preferred part of the starfish for food. This preference might be practical - trying to keep the starfish from escaping - or it might be taste-based. Either way, totally normal behavior.