Shrimp Behaviour, Communication

theshrimp_123 · Post by **theshrimp_123** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:44 pm

Hey,

I recently noticed my two amanos were together on a leave. I noticed one shake one of his legs. As I watched on, the second shrimp did the same with his leg. They kept this up for a minute or two. The two my suprise, the pair started to follow each other around the tank. They came to a stop almost at the same time and started eating. My question is, is there a way one shrimp could have told the other the location of the food, like bees? Do they have a way of communicating?

Chris

Baby_Girl · Post by **Baby_Girl** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:28 am

that's a very cool story! I'm sure shrimps have a way of communicating basic motives by display. It would certainly cut down on a lot of fighting from miscommunications

I don't believe that shrimps communicate the same kind of detailed information about food the way bees do (direction, quality, distance). I think bees may be the only invertebrates to utilize communication that way. Heck, most mammals don't even do that (think cows). No offense to cow-lovers out there!

That they stopped at the same time may have had more to do with body language and observation. One probably stopped a little before the other and the other one saw what it was doing and started eating, too. All of this could have happened quickly enough that it seemed to occur simultaneously to the human observer. Animals are amazing at picking up subtle visual cues and reacting appropriately. That's why many people claim their dogs can read their minds!

I like your questions, the_shrimp123. I want to go into teaching (biology), so you're giving me a chance to practice my skills

ShrimpFan · Post by **ShrimpFan** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:03 am

I'm not sure about the degree to which amanos can communicate, but I can say that they seem very social with each other. I always find them hanging out in groups while picking at food or while scaring my baby cherries (they seem to have made a sport out of swatting babies with their whiskers and watching them swim off...). No matter their level of communication, they sure seem to like each other's company

theshrimp_123 · Post by **theshrimp_123** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:01 am

Also I noticed shrimp seem to stay within their own species, amanos with amonos, ghosts with gosts, cherries with cherries, etc. The only shrimp that don't seem to do this are my macrobrachiums. I wonder, why they wouldn't they interact with the other species. Sometimes they eat together, but when are just "hanging out", it's always inside they're species. Hmmmm......

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 5:25 pm

I saw a tank full of asian filter shrimp with all of the shrimp lined up and were facing the front of the tank

. The alpha shrimp was working on the only shrimp not lined up yet by pushing the shrimp with his two large arms

. It was a sight to see since none of the other 10 shrimp steped out of line while I was at the pet store. I think that is proof of communication

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 7:00 pm

I wonder if the asian filter shrimp were simply competing for the best current in the tank? Certainly they do communicate, but I'm not sure if they were all lining up according to the wishes of the "alpha"

theshrimp_123 · Post by **theshrimp_123** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:32 pm

Very interesting.....