It seems to do this once or twice a month, but this time it looked like it somehow slipped out of there without even leaving a hole, just like a fart.
The hermit crab (Zoidberg) and the cleaner shrimp (Shrump) shed their skin to grow. In the wild as well as in my tank, they will leave the exoskeleton out in plain sight to distract predators while in their weakened state. Indeed when I dropped the frozen brine shrimp in there last night, old Shrumpy stayed back behind the rocks, out of sight, instead of rushing out all over the tank to snag up the food before the fish did.
I took some pictures. I had to last night because by this morning, I (correctly) figured that the exoskeleton would be gone, eaten by Shrump in the night.
Crabs and shrimp will sneak back out and ingest their old protection to acquire the nutrients they need to regenerate new protection (science is awesome!!).
Shrimp but no Shrump
Zoidberg investigating the matter
Will the real Shrump please...hang on to the rock
Magneto overpowering a shell
Rotated 90 along the Z
Wrasse is too fast to get a clear shot
Magneto, housed in a glass and plastic prison for our safety
Took some more if you're interested.
Not into reef tanks? Check out this awesome video from The Black Keys:
I love the tank and the bichos found in it =]
ReplyDelete.... and that song!!!
"I wanted <3, I needed <3, most of all"
....take 3!