[Rin]

I saw a really impressive Harlequin Shrimp at the LFS. I didn't know very much about them so I resisted the urge to buy it. Probably a good thing, who would have thought that these little guys can eat starfish? (I did a little searching around on the web.)

Just a few questions: Will a Harlequin eat anything besides starfish and Urchins? The LFS said theirs was feeding on brine shrimp. I sure would hate to loose my Tiger Tail Cucumbers.

If it feeds exclusively on stars, how does one go about preserving enough starfish flesh to keep a 2" shrimp happy?

Does the shrimp consume the whole starfish or does it just go after the soft internal organs?

Will these shrimp go after brittle stars or just the 'fleshier' stars, like Linkia and crown-o-thorns?

Anyone with any experience on these beautiful shrimp would be great.

Thanks

[ranaman]

Been some time since I kept one. They feed on stars as far as I know. A star can last along time feeding them since they turn it over and eat it alive. I used cheap local florida stars to feed the ones I had. Someone on this board said they had one that would eat frozen stars. So if you can collect local stars you should be able to freeze them to use for food. Don't know about other echinoderms but brittlestars should be able to escape them, cucs only way to find out is put on with a hungry shrimp. They are really hardy if you can get feeder stars.