Re-Opening the Pistol Shrimp Debate

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Interesting perspective given that the PS no longer has a goby partner. The goby and PS went in at more or less the same time, I saw almost nothing of the PS for 2 weeks after he went in and the goby was randomly swimming at all levels of the tank. Then they seemed to find each other and they were both quite active and visible around the burrow for a while until the Goby took a leap out of the tank (no lid, my fault). Since then I don't see much of the shrimp, but I hear him often in the evenings and see him very occasionally, I wonder if PS's that are not paired are more aggressive?

First fish death was not long after the Goby left the tank, second one 4 months later.

Them not being paired is one of the few reasons I could see for them potentially hunting, but if that were the case here, I would expect to see some damage to the fish from the shrimp feeding (or attempting to feed) on it. Given how most animals I’m aware weigh the risks of a hunt, I can’t imagine a pistol shrimp lacking its primary food source going after a large and potentially dangerous fish to just not eat it (very few animals hunt for sport in my experience).

Personally, I’d guess there’s something else at play here - internal parasites, something off with the water quality, electricity in the water column, etc. In most cases, stuff like that would seem way more likely to me than a rogue pistol shrimp hunting potentially deadly prey for the thrill of it.