That Shrimp is Like Pow!

The Brownbar Pistol Shrimp is one of those rare species with very few common names. They consist of pretty much any combination of Brownbar or Yellowbar and Pistol or Snapping Shrimp (though to be fair, we did find one instance where they were called Shore Shrimp.) It got its scientific name, Alpheus lobidens, from a Dutch scientist named Wilhelm de Haan, in 1849. He described it in the book “Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio Animalium, quae in Itinere per Japoniam,” or loosely translated from Latin, “A Description of the Animals on a Journey through Japan.”

This is noteworthy for a couple reasons, the first of which is during that time, Japan was closed to foreign travelers. De Haan was a biologist and entomologist at the Leyden (Leiden) Museum. He and two other biologists from the museum wrote the book, without ever going to Japan. They did their work based on collections made by Phillip Franz von Siebold (who was also involved in the writing and editing of the book) and Heinrich Bürger. They were assisted by a group of Japanese artists / naturalists. There isn't much information on this team of Japanese scientists, or how Siebold and Bürger were allowed to collect in Japan, or the methods of communication between them and the Japanese team. De Haan would pass away six years later at the age of 54. He suffered from a spinal disease that partially paralyzed him years earlier.

Another reason this origin story is somewhat interesting, is that this is a really common shrimp, from relatively shallow water. They come from everywhere there is tropical or subtropical water in a huge variety of habitats less than 75 feet deep, and most commonly under ten feet deep. It took a forbidden expedition to Japan to discover what could have been easily found the world round, had only someone looked. The one place they aren't found is in the Atlantic. The fact that they are absent from the Atlantic is interesting in that Alpheus lobidens is common in the Mediterranean, a connected body of water, and both seas have plenty of suitable habitat.

What's with the Pistol, and Snapping part of their name? All of the shrimp in the Alpheus genus are small, and pack a big claw, but only one, the other claw is usually more proportionate. In fact even though the Brownbar Pistol Shrimp only gets an inch and a half long, they can develop a large claw nearly half that length! Now this is no normal claw, it has a vent, for lack of a better word, and they can let water into a small chamber inside the claw. When the shrimp snaps the claw shut, the chamber gets plunged and water shoots out. This water moves so fast that the bubbles it creates move at up to 60 miles an hour! This mechanism, that can be used to stun prey, makes an audible popping noise. The loudest Pistol Shrimp on record can make a noise that measures over 200 decibels (not this shrimp though, The Brownbar Pistol Shrimp will make this noise, and you'll occasionally hear it, but no where even close to this loud). For reference, a .22 caliber pistol is usually around 150 decibels.

This is one interesting invertebrate, and one of very few things you can keep in a tank that you'll actually hear. For most aquarists who keep them, the really cool part is that these shrimp will form relationships with certain fish. Gobies from the genus Stonogobiops, Amblyeleotris, and Cyrptocentrus are all possibilities to give your Brownbar Pistol Shrimp some company. Alpheus shrimp have very bad eyesight, but are excellent diggers, usually making multiple rooms with more than adequate capacity for themselves. Fish from the mentioned genus will move into the den made by the shrimp and cohabit with it. The fish will dart back into the cave when it senses danger, and the shrimp will follow suit. These relationships don't always happen in the home aquarium, but when they do, its one of the coolest displays one can have.

Brownbar Pistol Shrimp are very undemanding in regards to water quality and husbandry. They've been found in a massive range of temperatures and salinity. Some have even been found in oil polluted sediment in the Gulf of Oman! All this being said, the vast majority of the Alpheus lobidens that are collected for aquariums come from clean, tropical environments, and you should emulate this in your aquarium. Go for reef salinity, 1.055 or so, and tropical temperatures, 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to keep both as stable as possible. These shrimp will grow faster and molt more often if the available calcium and alkalinity are high and stable. For this reason, we always recommend you use Tropic Marin salts. Our entire facility is run on it, you can trust it in your tank.

These super hardy shrimp are very easy to feed, though they will need to be target fed. They will live on left overs and fish waste to a certain degree, but if your aquarium is well maintained, this is not going to be enough food. Here we give them small chunks of thawed food from Gamma Foods, things like little bites of Silverside, Mysis, Chopped Prawn (little cannibals), and Mussel are all greedily accepted. Just nudge an appropriately sized chunk into the mouth of the den. The shrimp don't like invaders and may bump it back out, if this happens, just make the bite a bit smaller. They'll also graze on algae wafers and the shots from Nutramar are great for sticking to the rock just outside their dens. Use the Algae and Color Boost Formula.

When thinking about your display, Brownbar Pistols don't need much space. A single specimen could be kept in a display as small as 20 gallons with no problems at all. 40 gallons would be more appropriate if you are trying to pair them with a Goby. If you were thinking about keeping more, you should plan a much larger display, at least 50 gallons for each shrimp, with an emphasis on footprint over height. They will form pairs, but are very difficult to identify by sex, and can be territorial with other shrimp if not paired. They are a great in reef tanks being very low risk to any of your inverts (except other pistol shrimp), while doing a very good job keeping the place clean. The one caveat is that you need to be sure your rock work is, well, rock solid on the bottom of the tank and not the glass. All Alpheus shrimp will dig out under the rocks, and if not well planned, your rock work could come tumbling down. The display should have some sand for them to dig, and mixed grain substrate will add some structural integrity to the domiciles they create.

This is a really cool little invertebrate, with a rich mahogany color with some lighter bands across the tail section. They are the picture of hardy, and super interesting additions to just about any aquarium, as long as the fish in there don't like eating shrimp. There's only so much self-defense that big-ol claw can be counted on for. They are easy to take care of, and fun to hear popping away in your tank. If you're interested in trying to keep one for yourself, just head to your LFS and ask them for a sustainably harvested Brown Bar Pistol Shrimp from Quality Marine today!