[newreefman1]

Hey all.been hearing a mysterious clicking...in working w/ith teh tank, i caught this little baby shrimp....mantis? and if so...since this is a baby..are there more larger ones?
about 2" in size or so. very small

Your help is appreciated

[chet-tonja]

Sure looks like a mantis to me! Does he have any color to him? I actually thought about setting up a tank for one of those dudes after seeing one at a local pet shop. Some of them are very colorful and have interesting personalities. How long has it been since you added rock to the tank? You might be lucky and this is the only one, but.....

[rwag]

Looks like a tequila worm to me.

[Northman_with_reef]

Definetly a Mantis!

I used to keep one of those in a 2gallon tank, untill it "pinched" my finger.....Then I fed him too my oscar.

I'd kill it.

Thomas

[FishDaddy]

Good that you caught him before he got big enough to cause any damage!
They are fascinating, though aggressive predators. Many keep them in small species tanks, but as Thomas suggests, "Handle With Care".

Here is a site with about everything you would want to know about Mantis:
http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/
Dick

[Marco]

Definately a Mantis, I like to keep mine outside in the flowerbed.

Kill it!

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

Mantis indeed. Trust me I am a Mantis expert. I used to have 4 in my reef. I still have one in my tank as we speek. I see it as 3 down and 1 to go. He has been in there for almost 2 years now. Some of the old timers on Reefland can vouch for this. I have been very luck this far. Non of the Mantis's in my tank have decided to make any of my live stock dinner. You might call your LFS, they may want it and give you some credit towards a purchase for it. I am curious how you caught yours?
SHOG

[ravenmore]

Some interesting facts about mantis shrimps b 4 you run off and kill it:

-The strike of a mantis shrimps is one of the fastest known movements in nature. As fast as the beat of a hummingbird's wing, but in a much denser medium.

-Mantis shrimps eyes have 16 photoreceptors. 12 are for color. We humans have a mere 3 cones. Mantis shrimps see colors we don't. They are able to see well into the ultraviolet ranges.

-Some types of mantis shrimps are monagomous - they mate for life. Who would've thunk that for a crustacean.

-They are highly intelligent animals capable of individual recognition. In otherwords, they can distinguish and "remember" other individual mantis shrimps and act accordingly......

- Lastly, they can fetch high prices. I've seen drab individuals go for 20 to 40 bucks and the really colorfull specimens like the "peacock" mantis go for $80 on up.

I'd try to find it a suitable home....

[newreefman1]

Thanks for the Id guys...guess from all the posts here and other places its definately a mantis

As for how I caught it...I was redoing all the rockwork in my tank and had some pieces off..I was using a chisel and Hammer and busting up some rock to make nice pieces and VIOLA that little bugger just few out and onto the plastic container top I was using as a tray...I grabbed him with my hands(thinking it was a large bristleworm or something) and as I picked it up...realized what It probably was and freaked out and tossed it into a container w/ water. ITs very small..only about 2" or so...just a baby....

As for killing it..I dont kill things for no reason or because they irritate me. I put it in a small disposable tupperware container with air holes up top and tank water and some rock rubble for it....in my sump sitting up to keep the water temp constant...im going to look around today and see if anyone wants it for a species tank..I certainly dont cause If I got another tank...it wouldnt be for a mantis shrimp...but someone might want it..

Thanks all.

Jason.

[the_blue_tuna]

For future reference :

I grabbed him with my hands(thinking it was a large bristleworm or something


You dont want to pick up a large bristleworm (or small one for that matter ) with your bare hands. Trust me on this one . Very annoying for 3-4 days

[newreefman1]

ah Im used to it. Thanks for the tip..I know about their spikes..My fingers are somewhat calloused from golf and guitar over the years....A spike or two doesnt bother me...ive picked up 100's

hehehe.

I gotta save em all and I just dont have time to go get gloves etc then try and pick them up with some utensil lol.

I used to work in my tank w/ith gloves but every time I did, my fish attacked my hands wanting to mess with the glove..so I just clean really well, dry off and then go into the tank