Ghost Shrimp Parasite?

[Impudence12]

We recently got a few more ghost shrimp and one of the larger ones seems to have a spool of white thread in it. I imagine it's outlining the shrimps digestive track. It's been 5 days or so and the strange thing is still there. I managed to get a few pictures but it's kinda hard to get non fuzzy pictures of invisible shrimp... Is this normal or is this a parasite?

 

[PPMN]

it may just be the digestive tract. I can usually see the same thing in my not so red male cherry shrimp, the only difference is that it's brown, not white.

 

[pixl8r]

It is difficult to say, but I doubt it is a parasite. If a shrimp had a parasite that large (consuming a proportional amount of nutrients, compared to the size of the white area), the shrimp would have died from starvation.

 

[Impudence12]

I woke up this morning with the white string in a different position. There was a loop parallel to the tail, but now it's back to something similar to the picture.

 

[ct-death]

Drop in some colored flakes and see if the area in question changes the color of the food given?

It's hard to say, but the area looks like their digestive tract, and at this point i would have to agree with pixl8r

 

[Grins]

Looks like the digestive track to me. By the way..another Charlotte fishkeeper here.

 

[Impudence12]

I took some more pictures. I'm not sure if it's as evident in them, but the white thing is not in the same shape. The sinking food they manage to get is bright red, it's definitely not any part of the process between the mouth and the stomach. Out of the handful of shrimp I have this is the only one with this white thing. I'm just not familiar with any organism that's guts move around...

 

[silentskream]

put in some antiparasitic medication for INTERNAL parasites.
(they make anti parasitic food, don't know how good it is though)

good luck.

 

[ct-death]

Most medications will kill inverts.

Well, those pictures are better, and frankly, not to be cruel, if it's just the one, I would place him in a deep-dish bowl for a week or uthanize...

Frankly if it is a parasite, by all accounts he should be dead

 

[PPMN]

you're right, that looks weird...not like the digestive tract. And it moves around? Weird.

If you do put a medication in just make sure it's safe for inverts.