Assassins WILL Eat Shrimp!!! I Saw It!!!

rich_one

rich_one

AC Members
Nov 7, 2008
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Maryland
okay... let me try to start this out right. there has been great debate about whether assassin snails will eat or attack healthy shrimp. before today, I was not even closed to convinced. I AM NOW!!!
I am very sorry. I am sorry because, I do not have my friggin' digital camera. a couple of monts ago... whenever it was Dallas played Pittsburgh in the NFL, I left it over some friends house that week, and never went and got it yet. so what I am about to say, I sadly have no photo of, to support the claim. because of this, I understand that from a scientific standpoint, it will only be counted, once again, as mere speculation. so be it.
one of the things I hold a lot of value to in this hobby is passing on information so others may learn, and also build on discoveries and move forward.
okay. I think I have the "disclaimers" covered. now, for the shocking development.
I came home tonight, and was standing in front of my 33 gallon tank, in which, I have assassin snails. I do not see them terribly often, so as I am standing there talking to my son and my oldest daughter, I happen to notice an assassin on the glass. as I take a closer look, I come to a cool realization... it is attacking a pond snail! COOL! excited by FINALLY getting a chance to witness this, I creep in for a closer look, along with the kids. sure enough, the assassin was at work, taking down it's prey.
and then the astonishing happened.
I am watching in amusement, as I notice a dark green shrimp... an ADULT dark green shrimp... approach the assassin snail, as it is in the midst of it's pond snail kill. soon, my amusement turned to horror and shock, as suddenly, out of nowhere... somehow... the assassin managed to quickly snag the shrimp! HOLY COW... OMG... WTF!!!???
the snail struggled, but could not free itself. then, the assassin let go of the glass, and fell to the floor of the aquarium, with the snagged shrimp in tow. fascinated, I could not stop watching this struggle. the shrimp struggled more to try to escaped, but it was firmly in the grasp of the snail, and finally gave away it's final death throes. MY ASSASSIN SNAIL TOOK DOWN AN ADULT DARK GREEN SHRIMP!!!
once the shrimp ceased it's struggle, the snail began consuming it.
I want to make something very clear right now. to me, it seemed obvious that the snail did not hunt, or attempt to hunt, the shrimp. however, the shrimp got too close, and the snail seemed to recognize another meal opportunity. I mean, it literally ignored the pond snail, and suddenly attacked the shrimp. I could not believe it.
this issue has been of great debate on other forums. I know I am not a senior member here, and no one really knows aobut me. I am not confused with what I saw. I was in awe. I was shocked, because I was on the othe side of the debate that the snails simply will not bother shrimp.
I was wrong. that snail took down a healthy, adult, dark green shrimp. it did not literally hunt it... but when the opportunity presented itself, it struck with blinding speed, and took it down.
I just had to make this known. I know there will still be those of you who do not believe this, and I respect that. I am just fulfilling my obligation of spreading information that I have observed about a species... especially a new species... in this hobby. take it for what you will. I know I will not doubt another person who says they have witnessed this again.
-Rich

P.S. in order to post this account on multiple forums, I copied and pasted much of it, with some tweaks here and there. just putting it out there for those who are in multiple forums, and might see this story there. I just didn't want to type the whole thing over a million times, so I tried to just tweak the top part a little, based on the forum I posted it on. just fyi.
 
I answered your post over on AZI with more information but will also copy and paste the important parts here...

Now I will say I too am on the Hmmmm bench on this one because no one had ever actually witnessed the take down until this point. Now with you actually having seen the physical attack itself not just "hey I found my Assassin eating a shrimp when I looked in my tank", makes a huge difference.

I have been looking more and more into this interesting snail and it does seem that in areas where the snail and shrimps overlap that shrimp might be on the menu. It is also reported thet they take down small fish and water bugs, but as of this point it is all speculation since I have no factual proof or physical observations on this myself or from scientific observation. Most of the article I wrote is based upon my observations not the stuff flying around the internet just regurgitated in another form. I'm getting ready to update the entire article and was going to add that rumours are becoming stronger that they are oppotunistic(?) eaters and will take down other prey besides snails, but is not a common occurance. Your observation has helped a lot to solidify the point that they are a little more aggressive than first thought.
 
Sounguru said:
I answered your post over on AZI with more information but will also copy and paste the important parts here...

Now I will say I too am on the Hmmmm bench on this one because no one had ever actually witnessed the take down until this point. Now with you actually having seen the physical attack itself not just "hey I found my Assassin eating a shrimp when I looked in my tank", makes a huge difference.

I have been looking more and more into this interesting snail and it does seem that in areas where the snail and shrimps overlap that shrimp might be on the menu. It is also reported thet they take down small fish and water bugs, but as of this point it is all speculation since I have no factual proof or physical observations on this myself or from scientific observation. Most of the article I wrote is based upon my observations not the stuff flying around the internet just regurgitated in another form. I'm getting ready to update the entire article and was going to add that rumours are becoming stronger that they are oppotunistic(?) eaters and will take down other prey besides snails, but is not a common occurance. Your observation has helped a lot to solidify the point that they are a little more aggressive than first thought.
Click to expand...
thanks songuru... it was your article I was thinking about. in the excitement, I could not remember who wrote it. I was in such a rush to get out what I witnessed.

Unfortunately, I have had this tank since September, and the snails um... I think October? don't remember... but point is, it has been months. so I do not know if/when I'll see it again.

needless to say, I am getting my camera, and am going to try to be ready moving forward.
 
and I just want to add to this and reiterate... I do not think this is even close to being a normal occurence. these snails do not hunt shrimp, and it is likely a very rare event. but the debate has been whether or not they could even take down a healthy shrimp. to that... the answer is a resounding yes.
 
I had a blue mystery snail that ate live shrimp. The meanie!!
 
ladyblues1965 said:
Great to know!! Thanks I was thinking of getting some but Now I think not!!
Click to expand...

This is not a common thing I have kept Assassins and shrimp together for over a year and I have never seen it. If it is happening it is not often enough to make any kind of dent in the shrimp population.

80 assassins and 100+ cherries and growing so no need to really fear. You will loose more shrimp to old age and other causes than Assassins.
 
ladyblues1965 said:
Great to know!! Thanks I was thinking of getting some but Now I think not!!
Click to expand...
I agree with songuru on this. I would not say this means you do not get any assassin snails. so far, this seems to be a highly isolated event. I do not mean to suggest to anyone that this is some normal problem you need to be concerned about that will damage your shrimp population. I only mean to illustrate the fact that, these snails are clearly opportunistic predators, and if they can snag it, they will. I think that when it comes to shrimp, the situation that comes up that they can snag it will rarely develop. I only have a few assassins and many shrimp. if they do this on any kind of regular basis, it is not enough that I have observed it at any time, nor have I observed any damage in my shrimp population.

I feel confident right now in saying that you can acquire these snails with confidence, without fear of damage to your shrimp population.
 
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