What the heck is this thing?

[Fermelmehue]

I just started my 10-gallon planted tank in October, and last week it had finally cycled and so I added one lovely Betta and four surprisingly adorable Amano shrimp.

The critters have only been in the tank for a week. One shrimp molted yesterday, and we fished the exoskeleton out before learning that the shrimp would eat it. One of the shrimp had been hiding quite a bit recently, so the molting made sense. This morning, all four were hanging out on the Coconut shell, which seems to be one of their favorite places.

Anyway... today, in roughly the same spot that the molt was found, there's this black thing, with white lumps on it. It looks vaguely shrimp-shaped, but I seriously doubt something like this could happen in 8 hours. Plus, dead shrimp usually turn pink, if I understand correctly.

I'm hoping this is just a piece of wood that's sprouting, or something innocuous. I don't have any snails, so it's not snail eggs. Any ideas?

 

[Autumnsky]

They would turn color like you said could be white too. That is an odd thing and I would get a sanitized rinsed tweezer and get it out, put it in a cup and watch it for movement.