Pistol or mantis shrimp

[sango]

Im not sure which one I have in my tank. How can you tell? I have a pink spotted gobie in my tank and whenever the shrimp comes out the gobie goes after him kinda... He does not come out in the open long enough for me to get a good look at him. Any help

 

[Brad]

In my experience, mantis tend not to be very shy. If it was a mantis, I think you would see more of him.

They are very different from each other. If you look at the mantis, it will have very large eyes on stalks. Also a mantis won't appear to have any claws, whereas the pistol will have distinct lobster claws - one much larger than the other.

 

[zaku999]

Hi!

I just found that I also got a Mantis Shrimp in my tank. Must have came along with a live sponge i have just bought... A real Pleasant Surprise!!

Important Qns: are they good or bad guys?

Thanks!

 

[thanew]

if he came out with the goby then its most likely a pistol.. prawn gobies have a symbiotic relationship with pistol shrimp

 

[StripesTheEel]

i have a mantis shrimp in my tank also.. cannot establish which rock it is in.. ive cut it down to 3 rocks which he may be in although i never see him. i know its a mantis due to the triple clicking noise.. i used to see him all the time (newbie didnt know what it was) and ever since i introed my snowflake moray it still clicks but i dont see it.. is it worth pull apart my rock.. poking every hole and finding it... OR.. is my snowflake moray keeping it at bay making it hide??

 

[Kam]

I've had what I think is a unique experience with Mantis Shrimp. I know for sure I have one, as I have seen it. But I thought I had multiple due to the noise. Pistol shrimp tend to click once while Mantis will smash several times (similar sound but louder). I had lots of clicking so assumed multiple mantis.

In reality I have multiple pistol shrimp. I pulled one rock with a suspect mantis and put it into a QT tank. After several days with no food I put in a piece of shrimp to draw it out. Much to my surprise, two pistol shrimp emerged. That explains the multiple clicks. Since then I have seen several more pistol shrimp in the main tank.

My experience is that the pistol shrimp are VERY shy, almost never seen. The mantis will come out from time to time. My problem is the rock the mantis is in is very large and the cave it seems to like the most, is toward the back of the tank. Tomorrow is mantis trapping day (I try every Wed).

 

[StripesTheEel]

what do you try to trap it.. i have try the bottle trick to no avail.. my bottle has been in the tank for 3 days now with no luck!

 

[Kam]

I have found that you have to sorta starve them before they come out.

I have tried the bottle trick without success. I have one of the x-terminator traps and almost had it once, but a snail got in first and tripped the door before the mantis got in.

I have also seen the mantis in the open and gone after it with a net. It attacked the net and swam away.

 

[Gatorfreak]

StripesTheEel, I often have the triple-click as well. This is the first I've heard that a triple-click was indicative of a mantis. I watched some Discovery channel thing on mantis shrimp once and from what I learned about how their clubs work, I came to the conclusion that a mantis could only do 2 clicks and then there would have to be a pause.

The clubs of Mantis shrimp are spring-loaded. They slowly pull it back and when it comes time, they release it. That's how they are able to acheive such incredible striking speed. If only I knew how long it takes for them to "load" the club, then I could know how long that pause is.

I also have at least one pistol shrimp. I've seen him numerous times.

 

[Kam]

They can "reload" and "fire" fairly quickly. I have seen it.

The key is Pistol shrimp make noise when they either open or close their large claw. A mantis by itself does not make noise. The noise is when it strikes something. They do tend to strike the inside of their cave/cavern to dig it out more.

 

[zacdl]

Matty, you prolly need to get one of those traps I told you about