lump on ghost shrimp. parasite? please help!

jlprutz · 03/20/2015, 07:55 PM

I bought 10 ghost shrimp to help cycle my new tank. Two of them have a lump on the side of their bodies. The lump has a black ring around it and a white center. It seems the lump may in fact have legs but my eyes are not good enough to be sure. I have used ghosts previously when setting up my larger marine tank but i have never seen this before. Anyone know what this could be? I really dont want to start a tank with parasites. Should i separate them? Keep all the shrimp out of the tank? Please help!

snorvich · 03/20/2015, 08:10 PM

I would simply use a piece of shrimp from the grocery, ideally in a woman's panty hose sock.

ThRoewer · 03/20/2015, 10:29 PM

It's a Bopyrid Isopod, a crustacean shrimp parasite.

See also these threats:
Cleaner Shrimp isopod parasite??
Parasitic Isopod on cleaner shrimp...
What's wrong with my shrimp?

ThRoewer · 03/20/2015, 10:33 PM

Forgot to say you don't need to worry about this being infectious. These Isopods need an intermediate host - a small planktonic copepod, you will hardly find in a fish tank - to complete their lifecycle.

03/20/2015, 07:55 PM	#1
jlprutz Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 1	lump on ghost shrimp. parasite? please help! I bought 10 ghost shrimp to help cycle my new tank. Two of them have a lump on the side of their bodies. The lump has a black ring around it and a white center. It seems the lump may in fact have legs but my eyes are not good enough to be sure. I have used ghosts previously when setting up my larger marine tank but i have never seen this before. Anyone know what this could be? I really dont want to start a tank with parasites. Should i separate them? Keep all the shrimp out of the tank? Please help!

03/20/2015, 08:10 PM	#2
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	I would simply use a piece of shrimp from the grocery, ideally in a woman's panty hose sock. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

03/20/2015, 10:29 PM	#3
ThRoewer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 9,555	It's a Bopyrid Isopod, a crustacean shrimp parasite. See also these threats: Cleaner Shrimp isopod parasite?? Parasitic Isopod on cleaner shrimp... What's wrong with my shrimp? __________________ Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...

03/20/2015, 10:33 PM	#4
ThRoewer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 9,555	Forgot to say you don't need to worry about this being infectious. These Isopods need an intermediate host - a small planktonic copepod, you will hardly find in a fish tank - to complete their lifecycle. __________________ Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... Last edited by ThRoewer; 03/20/2015 at 10:36 PM. Reason: posted before finish writing