At first glance the Brown (also known as Common) Shrimp looks similar to a Common Prawn, but they’re actually very different. They don’t have the arms with the pincers on and they’re more of a flat shape, which aids them as they lie on the sea bed, often buried in the sand.
The Brown Shrimp is very easy to catch, just drag the net through the sand in the pools you will find on most beaches and you’ll probably have a few of these in there when you pull it out.I’ve kept a few of these in the tank and it did not go well. The first few I brought back were very small. They tried to bury themselves in the sand, but the substrate in the tank is crushed coral so it’s tricky for anything – even crabs – to bury themselves fully. A few times I saw the small shrimps buried and they’d come out for food. They didn’t last long though and I didn’t know what had happened to them. I assumed the anemones got them.
The next ones I brought back were bigger and I thought they’d be fine. They were about an inch and a half long, basically the same size as the Gobies and Common Prawns and half an inch smaller than the largest Blenny. When I introduced them to the tank I was shocked at what happened. Within seconds one of them had been torn to pieces by a Blenny. Even the Gobies were having a go at them. Initially I wondered if it was just because something new and strange had been introduced to the tank and the Blennies natural response was to attack, but they haven’t done it with anything else. Just Brown Shrimps.
The Blennies had lived alongside the Common Prawns for months with no problems, but for some reason as soon as they saw the similar sized Brown Shrimps they went nuts. Like throwing a goldfish into a tank full of Piranhas. It was shocking, so I quickly scooped out the remaining three and put them in a breeding net for their own safety. One of them had been grabbed by an anemone (probably chased into it by a Blenny) and I had to pry it free. That one didn’t make it, I found it dead the next morning so I dropped it into the tank and within a couple of seconds two Blennies had made short work of it. What is it about Brown Shrimp that drives them so wild?
The remaining two went back to the pool in New Brighton where I originally got them from. There are no Blennies in that pool but it’s rammed with Gobies. I caught a load more Brown Shrimp that day but didn’t bring any of them back and won’t be doing so in the future either. Much to the disappointment of my five resident Blennies!
Update!
I tried again with some larger Brown Shrimp, around two inches long. I introduced them after feeding so the Blennies were chilled and not aggressive. The Brown Shrimp buried themselves in the substrate and for a few hours everything was fine and dandy. Then all of a sudden, Blennies started attacking them any time they moved and tried to bury themselves. I scooped them out and put them into the breeding net for their own protection until they could go back to the beach. This definitely is it now, no more Brown Shrimp, which is a shame as they are interesting to watch as they lie under the substrate with just their heads showing.
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