hitch hiker what is it???

[jiggly75]

hey ive got a hitch hiker from some semicured rock in my 90. i dont have a pic as its only about a quater in maybe. hes got anteneas that are pretty long, two stump looking things also coming out of its head, he has a shell that is the color of mint choc chip ice cream, and his shell also resembles the shape of like a lady bug or one of those beetles. any ideas would be nice, need to know if i have to remove it b4 we finally transfer from other tank. thanks

[jiggly75]

I'm still trying to figure out what this thing is. i have seen more of it now. yesterday we were feeding our fish yesterday, and this thing sprung out of his hole about an 1 inch grabbed the food and sprung back in to his hole. his body was still in the hole so im guessing hes pretty big. his body is about the diameter of a pencil(but just a little smaller than that) hes green and has some sort of lines on his body (hard to tell which way cuz he moved fast)
any ideas???????????????????

[Xena47r]

I'm still trying to figure out what this thing is. i have seen more of it now. yesterday we were feeding our fish yesterday, and this thing sprung out of his hole about an 1 inch grabbed the food and sprung back in to his hole. his body was still in the hole so im guessing hes pretty big. his body is about the diameter of a pencil(but just a little smaller than that) hes green and has some sort of lines on his body (hard to tell which way cuz he moved fast)
any ideas???????????????????

A mantis shrimp, maybe???

[jiggly75]

i was thinking that too, but i havent seen it completely to know if really is. i think im going to look in mantis traps and see if i can catch it. dont want to take the rock out if possible (as its one of the biggest and it supports most of the rightside and center)

[jiggly75]

do all mantis shrimps make the clicking sound ive been reading about??? there is no clicking coming from the tank.

[Xena47r]

do all mantis shrimps make the clicking sound ive been reading about??? there is no clicking coming from the tank.

I am probably not the best person to ask as I am new to SW myself but from what I have read and understand, the mantis shrimp does make a clicking sound when attacking something. Best thing you could probably do is do a search with google and read up on it to see if it is indeed a mantis shrimp.
Try this site, it has some great images of different mantis shrimp. http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/pics.htm

[saltjunkie]

MY MANTIS NEVER MADE A CLICKING SOUND.....woops... it made a popping sound when it attacked its prey.. well the prey made a popping sound anyhow
when he split it in half....

the popping sound if you are hearing it may be a pistol shrimp..... one of its pinchers, clicks/ pops as a deterent to would be predators..

by the way, my mantis was mountain dew green,,, with some red..
my pistol shrimp was tan..

[jiggly75]

i havent heard any clicking or popping sounds yet. but from what i read on that site mentioned above mantis shrimps dont really make a clicking sound unless they are killing something. it is also the kind of green you mentioned saltjunkie. im gonna try the pop bottle thing, hopefully it will work. last night i went fishing for it (literally) i took a fishing line with a silverside on it. he took it and 3/4s of it was still sticking out of his home. i took that back from him. heck im not going to help him grow large if i can help it. any other ideas on how to get him out with out taking entire tank apart would be very helpful. thanks

[Xena47r]

i havent heard any clicking or popping sounds yet. but from what i read on that site mentioned above mantis shrimps dont really make a clicking sound unless they are killing something. it is also the kind of green you mentioned saltjunkie. im gonna try the pop bottle thing, hopefully it will work. last night i went fishing for it (literally) i took a fishing line with a silverside on it. he took it and 3/4s of it was still sticking out of his home. i took that back from him. heck im not going to help him grow large if i can help it. any other ideas on how to get him out with out taking entire tank apart would be very helpful. thanks

Good luck! I hope you catch it and if you do, take some pics!

[zhenya]

Well, the only thing that I can think of other then a worm of some sorts is an isopod. Without a picture it is hard to even imagine what this could be.

However, here's a link for you to check out if it is an isopod
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.htm

and here's a good website to visit to look for the odd critters
http://www.rshimek.com/odd_critters.htm

[jiggly75]

yeah without a pic i know its almost impossible to get an id. heck i have a hard time just getting him to come out. i tried to catch it last night but it wouldnt come out. but i did see a bristle worm that was about a good foot (he must have been in rocks from our old tank) but boy that was not what i was expecting to come out looking for food lol.