Peppermint Shrimp Water Stride

[Koshmar]

I was recently reading a post and was reminded of a curious event I've encountered when I've done water chems at the aquarium I volunteer at. There is a tank full of peppermint shrimp and whenever I've done tests on the water, using a YSI probe, the shrimp come over to check it out. When they begin to swim over, I have noticed some of them that seem to cling to the surface of the water, much in the same way the famous terrestrial waterstider does, commonly referred to in text books. I want to know if anyone else has observed this phenomenon and would like to hear comments/explainations on this behaviour. I'm assuming that it has something to do with the surface tension of the water. It is very interesting to watch because it is an exact mirror image of what the insect know as the waterstrider does.

[Chyendra]

my skunk cleaner does that sometimes, it's pretty neat. He can't hold himself up too long though.

[travisurfer]

Yes, my cleaner shrimp does this as well.