dgphelps Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I noticed this little guy a few weeks back after lights out. Last night, I waited till the lights were out and saw about 10 of these flitting around around the sand bed. Some were a very pale yellow, some like the one above with a more reddish orange tone. They were smaller last night, and several actively flitted around the water but mostly hung on the sand sifting through or crawling on the chaeto. Since they were smaller they didn't have as distinguished of front claws but definitely have them. Link to comment
dgphelps Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Unless they really are mantis shrimp and then I'm going to have a small nightmare as they grow! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 How big? Cuz my mantis shrimp when I found her was .5" and she could clearly make the pop sound already and hit things. And she closes up shop for night, usually plugs up her home's door w/ debris then reopens in the morning so they don't wonder at night. If it was mantis, they wouldn't be hanging out w/ each other either, doesn't matter how small they are they'd try to kill each other off. By Google pic it doesn't look like mysis or brine, so it's something else for sure. What about any of the other caribbean shrimp- pistol or red snapping? Unfortunately, I don't know what babies of any of these are. Link to comment
amphipod Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 There are 2 main types of the mantis shrimp, spearers and clubbers who make the sound. You have a spearer so there is no sound. They are probably eating amphipods and scraps, they should be safe to corals and sessile animals in general. I'd say keep it, if they grow too big you can isolate them or give them away, they are much fun to keep I hear. Link to comment
jamescstein Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 mantis should have their eye's on stalks so looks like some other sort of shrimp. http://www.imagequest3d.com/pages/current/pictureoftheweek/stomatopod/stomatopod.htm Link to comment
dgphelps Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Ok, strangely I keep seeing this after lights out. I saw 3 in my smaller tank (so that means they are in both) and I was able to suck one up and get it under a microscope for a few minutes before putting it back in the tank. Would love any potential ID. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 yeah, due to the eyes, isn't any kind of mantis shrimp then. Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Its my daring guess that it may be a sort of amphipod, notice the claw shape and orientation, also the tail, and the legs, also the eyes. If it is an amphipod it sure ain't no super common one. Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 looks pretty close... http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/mantis_shrimp Tho I was reading on JSTOR and its looking like theres a ~4% rate of development, so if it is, buy a lottery ticket Link to comment
dgphelps Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Interesting! It stays flat like an isopod but those claws! Glad they are staying little! Hmm I can see the difference in the legs, antennae, and tail end protrusions. Definitely not a mantis shrimp! Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Interesting! It stays flat like an isopod but those claws! Glad they are staying little!Hmm I can see the difference in the legs, antennae, and tail end protrusions. Definitely not a mantis shrimp! you got a pretty cool amphipod in your tank, you might want to try and get a good population going. Those antennae are quite beefy also Link to comment
jaynkeel Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 And if they start growing... Sleep with the light on and door locked!!! Those are some awesome shots under the scope. Link to comment
Weasel Baron Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 #of appendages and orientation of the raptorial appendage is wrong for a mantis; the mantis looks almost like a Z when its folded up. Yours looks like two large pinchers folded under themselves. also mantis shrimp dont have really pronounced caudal seta, and even at the youngest stage the caudal telson is apparent some other life form, not sure what... I would start my looking for things that lack a telson and have seta though, thats pretty rare for aquarium shrimp could be something in the caprellidae family; fairly common amphipod that has a similar body plan Link to comment
dgphelps Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Ok so definitely amphipod. I also posted over on RC and one response says the viewer had them in their tank once but they were overrun with Gammarus sp. I imagine that will ultimately happen as I have some of those larger, more commonly seen curved ones too. It looks similar to this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacean#/media/File:Abludomelita_obtusata.jpg Thanks everyone. I am somewhat happy I don't have several small mantis shrimp in both of my tanks - a couple and I'd be alright! Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Try to grow a culture of them Link to comment
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