Mantis Shrimp question, I think.

Hispaniola · #1 08/09/2005, 06:34 PM

Hi all.

I have a rock that I got on Sunday. After I placed it inside a bucket to cure it, I notice something that looked like a caterpillar crawling out of a hole from the rock and then quickly going back in. It's about 2" long. I separated that rock from other that I am curing to see if the thing would crawl out again. It looks like a mantis shrimp but I'm not sure.

Anyway, I left this rock out of the water to see if the thing would jump out and it still hasn't and it's still alive - I checked and it's moving. Is this a mantis shrimp? How long can it live inside of the rock? The rock is not under the water.

Thanks.

gfk · #2 08/09/2005, 06:47 PM

might want to post this in the mantis forum

avshockey311 · #3 08/09/2005, 07:29 PM

A mantis would look more like a beetle than a caterpillar. Could it have been a bristle worm?

jb88 · #4 08/10/2005, 07:38 AM

try leaving your rock out for 45mins to an hour> make sure you put a damp towel over it {not to damp}. what ever it is should come out.

Hispaniola · #5 08/10/2005, 08:48 AM

Well, this morning he/she jumped ship.

I immediately removed the rocked and checked as I best as I could if there was anything else in it. I placed the rocked with the other ones (the ones that are curing).

The thing looks like a shrimp and its color enables it to blend on the sand. I will try to post a picture of the guy. It reminds me so much of a centipede because of how he can walk but I noticed that he can swim too. What could it be?

CSI Reeftank.

jedimike · #6 08/10/2005, 09:13 AM

Here is what a typical Mantis looks like...

Hispaniola · #7 08/10/2005, 02:15 PM

It's a Mantis.

I put it in a small acrylic container and it looks like jedimike's pic but it's not red it's tan. He swimming upside down and sideways and clicking really loud - like a pistol shrimp.

I'm glad I spotted him in time. Funny, I did get a pistol shrimp out of one of the rocks (I have 2 now).

So, what do I do with this guy? I don't want to terminate him but there's no chance he's going inside my tank. No gracias.

avshockey311 · #8 08/10/2005, 05:52 PM

There are always people looking for them here on RC post a thread in the trade or sell forum.

Hispaniola · #9 08/13/2005, 10:29 AM

Well, the mantis died. I put in a small black plastic tube, pushed him inside, put in some thawed shrimp and nothing. He kept breakdancing until he died.

Today I was cleaning again some live rock that I got 1 week ago. One of the rocks had some calimeda plant and as I seperated the plant from a rock, a small green mantis about 0.5" jumped out. I put him inside a styrofoam cup and he is actually very active swimming all over the place.

I think I am going to take this one back to the beach today.

"Born free..."