Baby shrimp ID
 

I just looked in the tank with a flashlight and spotted a tiny little shrimp sitting on my Maxima Clam. If he is picking at the clam mantle, I am gonna scream.

It was about .5 in long, clear body w/ tiny black spots and white eyes. One of his pinchers was bigger than the other.

No way I could get a picture. My camera's macro mode is horrible.

I just today put in the first shrimp. A peppermint and a Skunk Cleaner. Is it possible that this was a baby of one of these? They have only been in the tank about 14hours though.

It sounds like one of a few species of small shrimp that are commensals with clams. Don't worry about it.

Do you think he hitch hiked in with the clam?

They live inside the clam usually in mated pairs. These black spotted ones are in the genera Anchistos and Paranchistos. They are thought to feed on the mix of mucus and dead cells that the clams constantly produce. there's a lot of good information in this post
[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1182039&highlight=clam+commensal+shrimp[/url]

Thanks for the info and link. I was very concerned about seeing this on my 3in. Maxima since I lost a 6in Gold Teardrop a few weeks ago.