[Samper]

Hey guys, I have recently found what I believe to be a Saron Shrimp in my tank, is there another shrimp that looks similar or should I just go ahead and get him the heck out of there? I've read that they are somewhat reef safe and could only find one post on here about them. He hasnt bothered my zenia or shrooms yet but good citizenship is a must in my tank. Any thoughts?

[Ninong]

They are NOT reef-safe! They are nocturnal predators and eat lots of different corals. I have no idea why online vendors consider this species "reef-safe." I guess it helps sales.

[Ninong]

You may have seen a few posts by hobbyists saying that they have a Saron sp. shrimp in their reef tanks and they haven't had any problems that they are aware of; however, any review of the literature will quickly confirm that they are known to eat coral polyps (especially SPS) and sometimes attack clams. They are strictly nocturnal so it is possible that most people just aren't aware of the problem or perhaps the shrimp are being well fed with the food that is going into the tank for the fish and they are not doing all that much damage.

According to Dr. Ron Shimek, they eat the polyps of a wide variety of hard and soft corals. According to Fossa & Nilsen (TMCRA-3) they have observed them eating coral polyps. According to Delbeek & Sprung (TRA-1), they eat coral polyps and sometimes attack clams at night.

However, all of the online vendors rate them as "reef-safe." Go figure!

[Samper]

Just curious....IF a saron shrimp decided to munch on a small mushroom polyp would it have eaten the whole thing all the way down to the rock or is it more possible that the polyp let go of the rock and settled somewhere else? The only reason I'm asking is because I always like to see new things in my tank and I just discovered him. I'm curious to watch him for a while before I just up and throw him out.