Dwarf Banded Coral Shrimp? ahhh... no <G>
I have recently purchased a male coral banded shrimp (boxer) that is very small, the supplier told me it was a dwarf CBS however I can't seem to find any info on a dwarf CBS. Can you confirm that a dwarf version of the species exists?
<if we are talking about Stenopus hispidus, then there is not such thing as a dwarf "cultivar". At best... you have a young male and the merchant is mistaken or outright lying. Perhaps you have another Stenopus species? If so... maybe smaller as an adult than the CBS.>
I have other shrimp (fire)
<Doh?!?!?! Yikes... be very careful here. I'll bet very good money on the fire shrimp getting pulled limb from limp when the boxing shrimp matures. Ill-advised for sure here>
in my tank and specifically bought in under the pretense that it was dwarf and would not be capable of attacking the other shrimp in the tank.
<hahhahahhahahhahahha...... hahahhahhaa.....hehheheee... hehe... ahh... hee... woo....ah, no. I'm quite certain that whatever species of boxing shrimp you have is, that it is a clear and present danger to any other small-clawed shrimp in the tank.>
The other shrimp are all much larger.
<no matter in time... claw size/defense/territoriality, etc>
Great site by the way. Thanks John
<thanks kindly, John.  Anthony>

Yellow/Gold Coral Banded shrimp Stenopus scutellatus 5/19/03  
Hi, Thanks for your response. I think I have found the species:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=685
Yellow banded Coral Shrimp
<Stenopus scutellatus>
Can I still assume that he is likely to be a danger to the fire shrimp as he gets larger.
<indeed to any small clawed shrimp... although this species is rather reclusive... even for a boxing shrimp>
He is about 1/2 his full size at the moment and is causing no problems, much less aggressive than the fire shrimp themselves.
I have a 50G tank with plenty of live rock i.e. hiding places, caves etc Should I take him back or wait and watch?
Cheers, John
<its a tough call, John. I would have never recommended it or tried it personally. Who's to say what will happen down the road. I am somewhat concerned for long-term prospects as the tank is only big enough for one shrimp's natural territory. I'd feel a lot safer to sit back and observe if the aquarium was larger/longer. Still... you have the best position to make a decision in actual observance of the behavior of these particular individuals... by day at least. In the US, both of these shrimps are uncommon and expensive. My advice would be to play it safe and separate them... although do not move the new shrimp so soon (days ) after purchase... too many moves since import could stress and kill it anyway. Kind regards, Anthony>

Coral Banded Shrimp ID  7/15/06
I recently purchased what was listed as a gold coral banded shrimp.  He has the typical red and white claw and tail coloring with the yellow thorax and white antennae.  The part that is disturbing me is that he also has blue colored legs.
<<Mmm, yes...have seen this on the "red" variety as well>>
I have been trying to verify name and information so I can learn more about this particular species.  Is this just an regional
variation, or is this a sub-species or a completely different type of shrimp, although that would seem rather unlikely.
<<I suspect this is a color variant of Stenopus hispidus>>
He is currently very small, only 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length.
<<Will get big (as aquarium shrimp go) and will "rule" the other inverts>>
I have searched through numerous books, Google, any different combination of searches and was not able to find anything.
<<...?  Did you do a search on the genus (Stenopus)?
I did find things on the Blue Coral Banded, but he definitely has the Yellow, not Blue thorax.
<<Yes, a different species...some eight or so in all>>
Thank you in advance for any information or direction you can point me.
Chuck Davis
<<Have a read here Chuck (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/shrimp/corlband.htm).  Be sure to check out the bibliography, and do follow the blue links at the top of the page.  Regards, EricR>>

Re: Coral Banded Shrimp ID  7/15/06
Thanks for the information guys.
<<Did it help?>>
I had read the links you gave, but was not able to determine which based on what was there.
<<Guess not <grin> >>
I finally did end up just trying to look up a listing with picture for all of the Stenopus species.  Luckily there are not too many.  I finally found a page on reefcorner.org that listed species and a brief description.  While this main page is in another country, it did give me a scientific name that I could search with, and found a picture of on another site.  It looks almost exactly like the Stenopus cyanoscelis shown.
<<"Almost"...but?>>
Now I just need to find some more detailed information regarding this subspecies.  I would guess based on how hard it was to find any information specific to this shrimp that he is fairly rare or just not brought into the hobby.  I did find that there must be similar species if not the same that occurs in Australia because of re)description regarding the Stenopus cyanoscelis and a new Stenopus chrysexanthus.  If you know where I can find more specific information regarding these, please let me know.
<<I just did some looking around and based on your earlier description, what you have might be Stenopus scutellatus.  Take a look here and see what you think: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=685 >>
Thank you in advance.
Chuck Davis
<<Regards, Eric Russell>>

Re: Coral Banded Shrimp ID, Help!  Stenopus cyanoscelis  7/15/06
Bob, I'm struggling to provide/find any real info (in English, anyway) to help this guy out.  Can you CC Helmut Debelius re to see if he can/would help?  Eric
<Will cc Helmut... but this is a valid species: http://www.google.com/search?q=stenopus+cyanoscelis>
Coral Banded Shrimp ID III - 07/16/06
Eric,
<<Chuck>>
I looked at the picture you had on Live Aquaria.   I had looked at it previously, but in the description, it very specifically says it has yellow
legs.  The reason I stated before that it "almost" looked like the ones I have, was due to the fact, you are trying to compare a picture to an
individual, and because the one I have is very small also.
<<Indeed...and obviously, you are in a better position to make the call>>
I have included a link to the picture I found of it http://www.meerwasser lexikon.de/de/55/839/Stenopus/cyanoscelis.htm and also of the one that
refers to them as the blue leg boxer shrimp http://www.reefcorner.org/species/family.asp?FAMILY_ID=159
<<Mmm, yes...quite similar but for the "legs".  Too bad none of these sites offer "multiple language" translations>>
Thank you in advance,
Chuck Davis
<<Doesn't look like I'm helping you much here Chuck, you obviously have searched out well what little info there seems to be.  I'll ask Bob if maybe
he can CC Helmut Debelius and see if we can get some information re this species (Stenopus cyanoscelis).  EricR>>
<There are a few other similar-appearing Stenopid species... Bob Fenner>