Bisma Rock shrimps?

[914]

So, i just got a neato piece of Bisma Rock (a sortof encrusting SPS with commensural feather-duster type worms living in it) http://www.ffexpress.com/inverts/worms/bisma.jpg

Checking it out in the tank, it apparently also has shrimps living in it! They are clearly burrow-dwellers, though they could be taking over worm-burrows......

There are three of them (at least) on my "medium" piece from FFE, and they seem to hang out in their burrows, eyes and antenae poking out. i only found out they were shrimp by watching them for a good ten minutes, and eventually they venture out about halfway, but i've never seen one come all the way out.


Can anyone tell me what they are? Do they kill/eat the worms? Or are they more benign? Can i feed them?

thanks!

(ps: the search function here is either broken, or isn't searching the old posts.... i search on 'bisma' returned no hits)

 

[914]

^^

someone must know what those little shrimps are?

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
I don't know much about them, but they seem to be a filter feeder (with feathery antenna that move constantly). ASAIK, they are harmless.

 

[Anonymous]

Do a search of porites corals and Christmas tree worms. FFE calls it Bisma rock(why?I'm not sure). What they show on their site is a porites rock with Christmas tree worms.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
The "shrimp" that the original poster mention is not the Xmas tree worm. It is really a crab/shrimp that I don't know much about other than to guess that it is a filter filter.

 

[Anonymous]

No kidding.


I am refering to his statement about the search engine being broken. He will have better results using "christmas tree worm" as opposed to "bisma rock".

I am not aware of what kind of shrimp/crab it is either.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
I have a bisma rock that have the shrimps on it like the poster. They got two white craws (sp?) that they use to "clean" the antenna once a while, supposingly to get the food that the feathery antenna caught. Cute little bugers.

The fan worm on the porites are well know, but I never come across anything about these shrimps...

Bisma is probably a Indonasian (sp?) term. Anyone know about it to correct my guess?

 

[jimroth1]

Those little crabs are pictured in one volume of The Reef Aquarium by Delbeek and Sprung. Also in the Julian Sprung invertebrate guide. They refer to them as sessile hermit crabs. Very neat looking in the book. I would love to have some Bisma rock with worms and crabs!
BTW Bisma Rock seems to be the normal term for Christmas Tree Worm rock on dealer lists out of Indo. There's a lot of head-scratchers on those lists, like "KOKO WORM" and "COLOR CAULIFLOWER."

 

[914]

but...
does anybody have any idea how i can keep them healthy and happy?

do they need target feeding of some kind?

 

[esmithiii]

Christmas tree worms and the porites coral that they live in are generally short-lived in home aquaria. I am not sure about the crabs, but any filter-feeding crab is generally more difficult to keep as opposed to scavengers/predators. Enjoy the rock while it lasts, which is generally less than a year.

Ernie

 

[jamesw]

Here's a picture of one of these sessile hermit crabs:

I took the photo while diving in Fiji. The crabs live in Porites there as well.

Cheers
James

 

[esmithiii]

James,

Incredible pic!

Ernie

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
It is generally said that the porites and Xmas tree worms are short lived, but some people have them for years without particular care (DT, phylo, etc). The crab/shrimp probably have similar requirement as the Xmas tree worm.

Cocoworm (kokoworm) is usually solitary, and not associate with porites like Xmas worm does.

 

[esmithiii]

It is generally said that the porites and Xmas tree worms are short lived, but some people have them for years without particular care (DT, phylo, etc).

From what I have read for every 10 people that get this rock, 1 person has success past the year mark. IMO it is one of those things better left in the ocean.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Ernie:
From what I have read for every 10 people that get this rock, 1 person has success past the year mark. IMO it is one of those things better left in the ocean.

-I agree, I would love to have one of these in my tank but have not purchased one due to their low success rate in aquariums.
Steve

 

[MFisher]

I've seen these before. I waw them in a dead coral skeleton. I thought that they were shrimp too; its neat that they are hermit crabs. I have a "Bismac Rock" and I would say that it is one of the hardiest corals I have owned. It may be the type of coral (these worms inhabit several different species of coral) that makes them hard to keep but it is identical to others that came as hitchikers on my LR. I wish I knew what kind of coral it is (I'm bad with encrusting coral taxonomy) but IME this coral is extremely easy to keep and the worms are long lived. Oh yeah, I've had a goniopora for 3 yrs too FWIW :roll:

Matt

 

[914]

hmmm....

it makes me sad to hear that folks haven't kept these things alive for long, but i *do* have some (two different) porites that came in on LR, and they've been going strong and growing for more than a year...

i looked all of that up before i ordered it, having learned my lesson with some other unplanned purchases.

i was just surprised to see/find the "shrimps" (sessile hermit crabs, cool!) along with the worms.

if they're filter feeders, i'll just keep up with the regular filter-feeder food..

anyhow, thanks everyone!

 

[esmithiii]

it makes me sad to hear that folks haven't kept these things alive for long, but i *do* have some (two different) porites that came in on LR, and they've been going strong and growing for more than a year...

I have several porites species in my tank also. Remember that not all porites are created equal! For some reason the kind that has the commensal worms it typically not hearty.

I've seen these before. I waw them in a dead coral skeleton. I thought that they were shrimp too; its neat that they are hermit crabs. I have a "Bismac Rock" and I would say that it is one of the hardiest corals I have owned. It may be the type of coral (these worms inhabit several different species of coral) that makes them hard to keep but it is identical to others that came as hitchikers on my LR. I wish I knew what kind of coral it is (I'm bad with encrusting coral taxonomy) but IME this coral is extremely easy to keep and the worms are long lived. Oh yeah, I've had a goniopora for 3 yrs too FWIW

MFisher: I assume you are being facetious? :?:

 

[MFisher]

No. About what? I don't do anything right but this supposedly hard to keep stuff is really easy and indestructable for me. I think most of the hype about things like goniopora and "bismac" rock being hard to keep is still old-school misconceptions from when most people couldn't keep anything alive(the pre-feeding days I presume). People just continue to regurgitate "urban legends" despite having little first hand experience them. The one I do contend with is that elegance corals are hard to keep. I know of lots of people who owned them and VERY few have survived. I think Toonen posted a good cure for this a while back that makes me want to try one again (if I had tank space)

Matt

 

[esmithiii]

I don't do anything right but this supposedly hard to keep stuff is really easy and indestructable for me. I think most of the hype about things like goniopora and "bismac" rock being hard to keep is still old-school misconceptions from when most people couldn't keep anything alive(the pre-feeding days I presume). People just continue to regurgitate "urban legends" despite having little first hand experience them.

If you do a search on "goniopora" or on "Christmas tree" you will get plenty of current, first-hand experiences to the cotrary. Are you suggesting that Sprung, Borneman and Tullock are spreading "urban legends" in their publications and books? Isolated success stories are not proof of heartiness and IMO they motivate newbies to make bad choices about which livestock to buy. I do not have first-hand experience about either coral you mention (goniopora or Christmas Tree rock) just as I do not have any first-hand experience using crack cocain. I did, however research those corals first and then exercised retraint. for that same reason I do not own a powder blue tang.

Here is some interesting reading if you are interested:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p...er=asc&highlight=christmas tree rock&start=20



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