hi, i'm a grass shrimp. why does everyone try to eat me?

[theLIQUIDzoo]

so i bought some live grass (glass?) feeder shrimp at skiptons. i was hoping my jawfish would eat them but, alas, they just sort of pick on them when they go by, they seem a little too big for the jawfish. who would have guessed that the tank raised clown would hand out the hurt? the little guy took a good chomp on the shrimp's swimmerettes (nearly his size!) and that shrimp was down for the count. sadly, my rapidly growing skunk cleaner shrimp ate his brethren and the clown didn't get any meals from his fine hunting.

sure, a boring story, but it leads me to my question:

why does everyone know the feeder shrimp are food?

i'll give you that the cleaners shrimp eats anything dead or dying.
but why do the jawfish and the clowns take jabs at the grass shrimp?
coloring? scent?

it's just interesting to me that no one picked on the much smaller sexy shrimps (before i had to banish them to the 'fuge for tearing up rics) which seem like an easier target...or the peppermint or even the skunk cleaner when it was smaller.

...and i have anemone shrimp in another tank which no one picks on, and he's clear (with a few blue spots), so i'm not so sold on coloring being the reason. (alright, i'm pretty sure my yellow coral banded took out the slower brown anemone shrimp, who refused to 'swim', but the yellow cbs is a grumpy bastard.)

 

[nitrofish]

quote: hi, i'm a grass shrimp. why does everyone try to eat me?

holy crap, a typing glass shrimp

 

[MelodyDurham]

Maybe it's the same reason we'll eat cows but not horses or dogs. All have fur and four legs! Something just tells us the cows will be tastey, and that horses and dogs are cute and make better pets.

*shrug* Interesting question, though! (LOL, Jeff, you almost made me wet myself!)

Melody~

 

[tucc185]

As far as the cleaner species are concerned, most fish have evolved an instinctive 'knowledge' that those species can benefit them more alive than in their stomachs. I believe it is related to coloration, but I'm not positive if there is another factor involved. That's why some non-cleaning species have evolved coloration very similar to cleaners (Batesian mimicry I think?). I'm guessing the sexy shrimp didn't register as a prey item for your fish because in nature they are almost always symbionts of an anemone.

 

[maurod]

Maybe it's the same reason we'll eat cows but not horses or dogs. All have fur and four legs! Something just tells us the cows will be tastey, and that horses and dogs are cute and make better pets.

*shrug* Interesting question, though! (LOL, Jeff, you almost made me wet myself!)

Melody~

I object, horse is good eats!
M.