Introducing Harley-the harlequin shrimp

Very nice schackmel, I've had mine for going on a year now, How do you know that it is a he or she? I've been under assumption it was an it like many other shrimp(hermaphrodites). Also talk to your lfs, 10 bucks for a choc star is crazy. All the stores round here sell them for 5 bucks if you tell em its food for harle's. They will find you a plainer looking one or such. I lost the partner originally, tried adding another the same size, no luck. If you try, best of luck.

 

honestly, I dont know how to. Inwall and the guy that he bought it from was able to id it as female. Something with the coloration of the bottom part of her body. I cant tell.......

 

I believe that the Chuck's Addiction site has a section how how to sex them. Not sure if Curt is willing to go on that site though.

 

Cool shrimp you have there!

 

nice!!!

 

quite an expensive diet i must say, poor, poor starfish.

 

Wow, very beautiful. Congratulations!

 

yeah i do feel bad for the starfish, but unfortunately that is nature and what he eats! I try to look at it no differently then when I feed ghost shrimp or breed mollies to feed to my angler. It is hard, and i still feel bad everytime i go to the store to pick up a star or a ghost shrimp, but i chose to keep these animals so I must provide to them.

People have stated that I could set up an aquarium for cc stars and just cut their legs off and feed to the harlequin. Personally, too me cutting the leg off the star would be harder on him then this way. This way the shrimp has basically "put him to sleep" and parlysed him before he started to eat him. I hope that the star doesnt know or feel what is going on to him

 

Ahh very interesting point Schackmel, I have been talking to someone else about this we believe the Harlequin's front two spiked feet claw things have a clear longer looking area than the rest of its feet, When eating the star it injects these long clear spikes into the seams where the foot tentacles of the choclate star come out, we think the harlequin is injecting some type of paralyzer into the food as it eats. We have noticed this by the chocolate star after being touched by the claws turns and curls but does not start to die off. I have noticed that on different parts of the Starfish are still alive as its being eaten, days into the task so i dont think it puts the starfish to sleep just paralyzes parts of it as it is eating.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/harlequin-shrimp-feeding-pics-129304.html
Some detailed pics I took of mine engulfing a choc chip if, you can see as hes eating in one area the rest of the star is still alive and tentacles moving,

 

There's a lot of debate as to whether or not these shrimp have the ability to paralize their prey. Some say that they use their specialized arms to inject a neurotoxin into their prey, and others disagree. I would be very interested in finding out what the real deal is with that.