FACT FILE: Pistol shrimp and goby pairs, highly recommended!
Pistol shrimps pair with Shrimp Gobies.
A Pistol shrimp Goby pair is probably the most entertaining thing you can put in a reef aquarium.
It doesn’t take long for a Shrimp goby to find a Pistol shrimp to pair with. This orange spot goby (Amblyeleotris guttata) quickly paired with this Tiger pistol shrimp (Alpheus bellulus).
Pistol shrimps can move a surprising amount of sand at a time for their size!
As soon as a second Tiger pistol shrimp gets in on the action, the tunnel soon start coming along. The lone Goby keeps watch for danger.
Shrimp gobies and pistol shrimps get along well. Even when the shrimp starts heaping cockle shells on him.
We do sell the Tiger pistol shrimps (Alpheus bellulus) seperately, along with other Pistol shrimp species too.
But by far the best buy is buying the Goby Shrimp pairs as a pair (UK shipping available).
You can also buy Shrimp Gobies individually too.
As well as all the more commonly seen Pistol shrimp, and, Snapping shrimp details. We also get some rare ones too.
We often have these in stock. From the left they are:
Tiger pistol shrimp, Alpheus bellulus.
Randall’s pistol shrimp, Alpheus randalli.
Blood red snapping shrimp, Alpheus bisincisus.
And last, but, by no means least, the truly stunning Bullseye snapping shrimp, Alpheus soror.
Which Pistol / Snapping shrimp should I get?
It depends mostly on size of the Goby you want to pair with it.
Randall’s pistol shrimps are tiny, and so mostly only pair with tiny Shrimp gobies, such as the Black ray shrimp goby (Stonogobiops nematodes), as most other Gobies are too large to fit into the narrow tunnels of a Randall’s pistol shrimp.
Tiger pistol shrimps (Alpheus bellulus) are mid sized, and will pair with any species of Shrimp Goby.
The Blood red snapping shrimp (Alpheus bisincisus), and the truly stunning Bullseye snapping shrimp (Alpheus soror), are much larger and will pair with any mid size or large Shrimp goby. These two are only rarely available though, and also have much larger price tags.
Florida snapping shrimp (Alpheus floridanus) do not pair with Shrimp gobies.
Caribbean species of snapping shrimps.
Caribbean species of Snapping shrimp such as this Florida snapping shrimp (Alpheus floridanus) do not pair with Shrimp gobies. This is due to there being no Shrimp gobies in the Caribbean.
The stunning Purple Emperor shrimp (Zenopontonia rex)
The stunning Purple emperor shrimp is not one of the more typically seen shrimps that can snap! This little orange guy isn’t even an Alpheus species. This was originally a type of Periclimenes anemone shrimp. Instead of living in an anemone, they instead live in colonies inside sponges. interestingly some of these Periclimenes species are known to live like ants with a queen and workers.
The stunning Purple emperor shrimp.
What would you like to see next?
James Goodchild at Salty Revolution.
Written by James Goodchild - Salty Revolution, UK, 27th June 2021.