Tony Thompson
Active Member
Sorry for the rather sensational headline. The incident that I captured with my camera is that of my Ricordea Florida eating one of my Thor Amboinensis alive.
Now I know we hear many stories of corals and shrimp purportedly eating one another and the usual comments that "it was probably already dead"
However as my tanks are situated next to my office desk, I was able to observe the incident as it progressed. This particular incident took place in my Pico Reef Tank (19 Litre, crustacean and mushrooms) I casually observed one of my female Thor Shrimp, climb up onto my Ricordea Yuma to feed of the mucus and food particles. Nothing unusual there, I have observed my shrimp do this many times with no ill effect to either the anemone or the shrimp.
A minute or two later, when I glanced back at the tank I noticed some strange movement from the shrimp. It seemed to be struggling and the Ric was starting to close around it. Like most reefers I become attached to my little animals and my first instinct was to try and remove the little fella from the devouring mushroom.
After a short while of contemplating how I could release the shrimp without damaging the Ric, I concluded that the shrimp was by now, too far gone. It had stopped moving and the Ric seemed to have a good hold. My next instinct was to observe this seemingly natural behaviour.
Luckily I had my camera handy so I set up my tripod and attempted to record the incident. I have included the photos below.
Ricordea v Thor stage one, capture and stun.
Ric v Thor Stage 2 Mucus
Ric v Thor Devour
One happy Ricordea Florida
I have been observing my little Thor group for over 4 months now and have never had a problem with them being eaten by my corals.
I would be very interested to hear of any fellow reefers who have observed any similar occurrence involving Thor Amboinensis and mushroom anemone.
RIP little Fella.
Now I know we hear many stories of corals and shrimp purportedly eating one another and the usual comments that "it was probably already dead"
However as my tanks are situated next to my office desk, I was able to observe the incident as it progressed. This particular incident took place in my Pico Reef Tank (19 Litre, crustacean and mushrooms) I casually observed one of my female Thor Shrimp, climb up onto my Ricordea Yuma to feed of the mucus and food particles. Nothing unusual there, I have observed my shrimp do this many times with no ill effect to either the anemone or the shrimp.
A minute or two later, when I glanced back at the tank I noticed some strange movement from the shrimp. It seemed to be struggling and the Ric was starting to close around it. Like most reefers I become attached to my little animals and my first instinct was to try and remove the little fella from the devouring mushroom.
After a short while of contemplating how I could release the shrimp without damaging the Ric, I concluded that the shrimp was by now, too far gone. It had stopped moving and the Ric seemed to have a good hold. My next instinct was to observe this seemingly natural behaviour.
Luckily I had my camera handy so I set up my tripod and attempted to record the incident. I have included the photos below.
Ricordea v Thor stage one, capture and stun.
Ric v Thor Stage 2 Mucus
Ric v Thor Devour
One happy Ricordea Florida
I have been observing my little Thor group for over 4 months now and have never had a problem with them being eaten by my corals.
I would be very interested to hear of any fellow reefers who have observed any similar occurrence involving Thor Amboinensis and mushroom anemone.
RIP little Fella.
