My Valentini Puffer floats near shrimp and gets attacked [video]

[Maiu]

Hi,

I've had a Valentini Puffer for a few months now and I've recently introduced the first two shrimp - a clearer shrimp and an Alpheus fasqueli pistol shrimp. The Puffer already explored the cleaner and got a nice cleaning on the first day, but 3 days later he keeps going near the pistol shrimp and goes limp. He seems to be doing this intentionally, but the shrimp sometimes comes up and grabs and shakes the puffer around. I managed to catch it on video and I'm afraid he is going to kill my puffer. Is there an explanation for this behavior?



Later edit: I should add that the Valentini is very calm and hasn't caused any problems before and even now he doesn't do anything - he just floats gently on top of the shrimp and then goes limp and basically sinks to the bottom of the aquarium right next to the shrimp - he did it 3 times. I have a goby that I was hoping to pair with the shrimp, but they haven't met yet.

 

[F i s h y]

I think your puffer seems confused that both shrimp are cleaners and thats a very dangerous game its playing. It could end up with damage, causing a bacterial or fungal infection... unfortunately I think you may need to decide which one you want more if this continues to happen.

 

[mort]

Very interesting.

I think it's playing a very damgerous game as well. I Googled alpheus fasqueli and what worries me is I can't find any pics of it with a shrimp goby. There are a few pistols commonly available that don't pair with gobies but aren't that predatory but it does look like it would happily drag the puffer into its den.
I wonder if the puffer has been exploring the burrow when the shrimp came out and stunned it. Pistols get their name because they pistol whip their prey with a snap of their claws that sends out a shock wave (I believe the collapsing cavitation bubble is also hotter than the surface of the sun if memory serves me right). The strength of the shock wave varies from pistol to pistol depending on its feeding habits but again I'm not convinced this is one of the more gentle shrimp pairing pistols and is a middling border line predatory one.

The puffer could also do with a little fattening up. Most come in a little skinny and can take a few months to condition but they should look chubby and yours is a little on the lean side at present. So try to get it eating more which might make it a little more resilient to the pistol.

 

[Victoria M]

That is crazy. But totally agree with their assessment. Remove the pistol is what I would do, though.

 

[Maiu]

Update: the puffer realized that the cleaner shrimp might be delicious and ate it. He hasn't interacted with the pistol shrimp since - I think they both realized that they are potential enemies, but they are both playing nice. Unfortunately, I lost my cleaner shrimp in the process.