# Shrimp parasite?



## Manthalynn (Aug 23, 2008)

Sorry, I just filled out your entire questionaire (which I think is brilliant, by the way) answering all the questions and my stupid internet deleted it. So in short:

Got 4 ghost shrimp from Petsmart 4-6 weeks ago, noticed shortly thereafter one had a white ribbon in it's back (like the shape of those cancer awarness ribbons, etc). Finally tonight realized it might be a parasite, not just the guts since I feed them reddish colored flake food. Did a search and found a photo that looks almost like mine, except mine isn't as large and doesn't extend into the lower back.

http://www.myaquaria.com/albums/Allis-shrimp/ghost_shrimp_passenger.jpg

I have removed the 4 shrimp from the 10gal tank, who's other inhabitants can be seen in my signature. The shrimp has been this way probably since I've gotten it. What do I do with the shrimp? I've read inverts are sensitive to medication.

Thanks!


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Honestly, I think you're best off euthanizing the affected shrimps. If the parasite is in them (probably a horsehair worm) they should be euthanized.


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

w have a questionaire?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Heh. Yes, we have a questionaire form for the posting of problems. 
Anyway, Horsehair worms are pretty common in ghost shrimp. They're very contagious, too, and pretty much impossible to get rid of without also wiping out the shrimp. On the plus side, they grow slowly and don't really do much harm or reproduce until they get large. Your best bet is to remove any affected shrimp from the tank.


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## Manthalynn (Aug 23, 2008)

Thank you, all, for your answers. I removed all 4 shrimp because I couldn't really tell last night which had it and which didn't. (It's hard to see unless it's under the fluorescent lights.)

How do you euthanize shrimp? I remember in my biology lab we had to cut the heads off the crawdads and then cut the heads in half just to make sure the head wasn't still feeling the pain. Any other suggestions?

(My dad has used the exaust from a rotatiler to put down my rabbit that had cancer, it was just carbon monoxide poisening so no pain, just sleepy)

Thank you!


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## Maztachief (Oct 3, 2008)

Id personally use one of those computer air cans, turning it upside down causes the fluid to come out (just be gentle on the trigger or else you get a spray.) It freezes instantly. I had the same white thing in my ghost shrimp and it froze his head solid in less than a second. Just putting it out there.


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## ThatFishKid (Aug 9, 2008)

are the horse hair worms passable to fish? 2 out of my 20 have them, and if it's safe, i can just toss them in my 29g for my spotted climbing perch. If the fish can contract the parasite, then I've got plenty of canned air.


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## Manthalynn (Aug 23, 2008)

He may be frozen solid, but will he come "back" to life when he thaws out?

And I just realized...I don't want to be cutting off a head that will then expose the darn worm. Eeww...


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## Maztachief (Oct 3, 2008)

He shouldn't come back to life for the same reasons we get frost bite. Formation of ice crystals within cells destroys their cell membranes and literally rip them up causing instant cell death. Stuff "comes back to life" if the crystals are not fully formed for some reason. In the case of lots of organisms that are ectothermic they have a sort of antifreeze in their bodies that allow them to get really cold without crystal formation killing them. 

Freezing in the refrigerator may not get cold enough to completely freeze the organism as the freezing temperature of water lowers if it is part of a solution (a solid is like lego bricks stacked all together neatly, the bricks are the water, and anything else in the water like salts or other chemicals in the cells of the creature are like sticking pennies between the lego's, they wont all go together nicely so it must be colder to allow the crystals to push these impurities out of the way or form around them) This being so, it is somewhere like -30 below 0F (of which +32F is the freezing point of water) when you freeze the fish causing full freezing which should destroy the cells and kill the fish. 

At least to the best of my understanding.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Smash them with a hammer or something, something that's fast, but just get rid of them, and DON'T feed them to other fish.


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## Manthalynn (Aug 23, 2008)

Maztachief said:


> Formation of ice crystals within cells destroys their cell membranes and literally rip them up causing instant cell death. Stuff "comes back to life" if the crystals are not fully formed for some reason. In the case of lots of organisms that are ectothermic they have a sort of antifreeze in their bodies that allow them to get really cold without crystal formation killing them.
> 
> At least to the best of my understanding.


Mazta, that was a very good explanation! Thanks! I've taken a few entymology courses in college and I was indeed thinking of the antifreeze like characteristics of insects, etc. 

RIP, 4 little ghosty-shrimps.

Thanks all for the help. Killing an organism is always difficult even if you know it's death is imminent.


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## Maztachief (Oct 3, 2008)

qwerthdgsj


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