Peppermint shrimp eating corals?

[jfingers8]

I have been having a problem for almost a week, my green and blue stylo were getting eaten at night time i couldn't figure out what it was. Last night i was up for hours trying to catch whatever it was and my peppermint shrimp are the ones eating it. They pick off the polyps on the stylo's. Has anyone ever had peppermint's eat there corals before?

 

[returnofsid]

I've personally had no problem with Peppermints eating corals. Are you sure they aren't picking at a coral eating bug of some kind that you can't see?

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) have been known to eat corals but it is quite rare. On the rare occasions they do eat corals it is usually the LPS types or sometimes even anemones. Be sure you don't have the Camel or Humpback type Peppermint shrimp as they can be much more destructive. Regular Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) are from the Atlantic/Caribbean. The Indio Pacific species of Rhynchocinetes durbanensis, R. uritai and Lysmata californica are the ones to avoid if you want to avoid possible coral damage. All of these species are sold under the name Peppermint shrimp. Do a search for pictures to compare yours.

HTH,
Kevin