peppermint shrimp attacking fish?

[Peter Houde]

One of my two brooding yellow-tailed damsels has what looks like a knife cut nearly a quarter inch deep clear through his back all the way from the right to left sides. Amazingly, he is still behaving normally and vigorously guarding his eggs. His nest is pretty close to where my ocellaris call and defend home. Of course, they are aggressive (at least towards me) though I've never actually seen them with eggs. But the damsel's nest is also in the vicinity of where my peppermint shrimp prefers to hang out in the daytime. I've definitely seen her fending off bigger fishes passing by with her claws when she's out and about foraging. Has anyone ever had a peppermint shrimp actually inflict a wound on a fish? This just doesn't look like the shape of a fish bite. I don't know if a tang could or even would inflict a gash with its peduncle spine on a little damselfish, or if foxface could inflict this kind of wound with its spines. I also can't rule out the possibility that some crab isn't the culprit. I hardly ever see them but I know they're there usually hiding among the deeper rocks. They usually look more or less like emerald crabs.

 

[KrisReef]

Mystery- Do you have a crab trap? I wonder if you have some other predator lurking that could inflict the damage you described?

 

[Peter Houde]

Mystery- Do you have a crab trap? I wonder if you have some other predator lurking that could inflict the damage you described?

Never say never. Things show up I never dreamed I had. Who knows how they get there because I quarantine everything but frozen and dry food. Spontaneous generation? Lamarck wasn't wrong about everything. Anyway, no, I don't have a crab trap. Never even heard of one except for the kinds of crabs I like to eat.

 

[The_Paradox]

Peppermint Shrimp are *****. How old are yours? I used to keep them years ago and they all turned into coral eaters and fish grabbers once they got over a year old. Never saw them damage a fish more than a few missing scales though. LPS on the other hand they would crush like a fat kid through pizza.

 

[Peter Houde]

Peppermint Shrimp are *****. How old are yours? I used to keep them years ago and they all turned into coral eaters and fish grabbers once they got over a year old. Never saw them damage a fish more than a few missing scales though. LPS on the other hand they would crush like a fat kid through pizza.

Hmmm. I got this one from a friend of a friend of my daughter who didn't want it anymore. That's good to know. If it goes for my torches or Favia, then it's toast.

 

[The_Paradox]

Hmmm. I got this one from a friend of a friend of my daughter who didn't want it anymore. That's good to know. If it goes for my torches or Favia, then it's toast.

I had 7 in one tank. 4 fell for food in a net, 3 fell for a trap and one was speared out. I don’t remember them messing with torches or favia. They did however eat 20-30 acan heads before I figured out what they were doing. By the end they were starting to pick on a wellso also. I had heard stories but usually something eats shrimp in my tanks before they get that old. Speaking of I just watched my stupid clown fish eat a fire shrimp last week :rolleyes: