FAQs about Mantis Shrimp
Behavior
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Related FAQs: Mantis
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Re: Coo Coo for Stomatopoda 3/9/11
Thanks (Dr. ?) Mr. Fenner! I once again apologize for such a long
message, and I also appreciate your response! Sounds like a 29 gallon
Biocube might be the way to go, and also with a beautiful
Odontodactylus scyllarus. Hopefully he doesn't get to frisky and
try to drill through the glass..... I'm kinda highly doubtful as I
said before that if they were commonly known to do so, then
wouldn't that make them a tad bit less popular? anyways I had one
last question. Is it possible that when I'm stacking my live rock
that if I make a cave or hollow out a burrow in the centerpiece, and
when I introduce the mantis (possibly letting it go in front of the
cave) that it will bolt for the desired half way premade hole?
<Yes. Just do set the principal/larger rock directly on the aquarium
bottom... to prevent toppling by undermining/digging; i.e., not on top
of the sand/substrate>
I suppose its up to chance and the mantis at that but didn't know
if there was any light you could shine on it.. OH! and are the peacock
mantis' often found roaming around even before or not during
feedings?
<In the wild, yes, at times, places they're very outgoing. In
captivity, with time, familiarity likewise they are more
forthcoming>
Or are they known to just sit in their burrow all day, and only come
out during feedings? Thanks once again!
<Welcome. BobF>
Mantis Shrimp Behavior Question: Entrance Blocking: Normal -
4/4/10
Hey gang!
<Hey Jon, Lynn here today.>
I have a quick question regarding Mantis shrimps that Google was unable
to answer for me.
<Fire away>
I recently discovered the presence of a small (say 2", maybe a bit
smaller) Mantis shrimp living in a piece of live rock in my 65gal
tank.
<Interesting, have you noticed any impact on your snail, or other
crustacean population?>
As of yet I am unable to identify the species (I suspect it's a
smasher, and it's light, mottled brown, that's all I've got
so far).
<Most hitchhikers tend to be of the smashing variety. These prey on
snails, other crustaceans, hermits, etc.>
My research to this point seems to indicate that at that this size they
are not really able to break aquarium glass, so I figured he might make
an interesting character for the lower levels of my tank.
<As long as it's not a bare-bottom tank!>
Anyways, several hours after we discovered him he disappeared.
<Typical>
His hole was blocked with a mass of sand and small stones.
<Yep>
Further investigation with a flashlight
<Heeee! I can tell you from personal experience that they're not
big fans of flashlights. A better option is one with a red
lens.>
..revealed that several other holes in the rock had pieces of shell or
stone jammed into them.
<This is not at all unusual. Mantis shrimp tend to be territorial
little critters that don't appreciate guests (or flashlight beams),
so they block their entrances with whatever's available. Some do
this periodically (when threatened or perhaps as you mentioned, when
molting), while others do it routinely each day. They've even been
known to physically block the main entrance with their front
appendages. That's the ultimate statement of 'Stay back or
you're going to get pounded!'.>
He remained hidden for a little over a day and just a few minutes ago I
noticed that he had emerged again.
<Okay>
My hypothesis is that he was moulting and had blocked up the hole for
protection.
<It's possible but I would have expected him to be
'holed-up' a bit longer than that.>
I was just wondering if you guys could either confirm my suspicions or
give me some indication as to what was going on there.
<Mantis are smart animals with unbelievable eyesight. My guess is
that yours noticed your attention on him, didn't like the
flashlight beam, and went into a defensive mode. Here's a neat log
entry that you might find interesting:
http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/logs/l022498.htm
More information here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/stomatopods/mantisshrimp.htm
If you haven't yet come across the following site, do look through
it. It's got information on just about everything you need, from
care and feeding, to the potential for breaking glass, as well as
removal/trapping: http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/
As I'm sure you're aware, Mantis shrimp really are wonderful
little animals, but they pose a significant threat to livestock. Some
of this can be stemmed by offering the Mantis frequent meaty bits (of
marine origin) with a feeder stick (obviously never with your
fingers!). If/when the time comes to remove your Mantis, consider
keeping it in a separate tank. If this is impossible, do check your
local fish clubs. Mantis shrimp are often sought after by
hobbyists.>
Much appreciated!
<You're very welcome!>
- Jon
<Take care, LynnZ>
Mantis Shrimp Presentation, beh. 11/5/09
A lengthy, but very interesting presentation by Sheila Patek on the
Mantis Shrimp. Well worth watching.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sheila_patek_clocks_the_fastest_animals.html
James (Salty)
<Will list. BobF>
Unusual mantis shrimp behavior - 05/10/2006 Hey
crew, A pet mantis shrimp (Squilla empusa)
has recently started exhibiting some extremely unusual behavior. It
has started laying on its side, peapods barely moving, and
excreting a bright orange substance (see attached pics). Is this
egg laying? <Yes> This animal has been in a tank since last
summer, and hasn't had any exposure to another mantis shrimp
for almost eight months. Any ideas on what this behavior is,
spawning or disease? Thanks a bunch, -Kevin <Is spawning,
producing eggs, which will be infertile (of course). Should
recover, the eggs ultimately dispersed, consumed, removed by your
skimmer. Bob Fenner> |
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Frustrated with disappearances 10/25/05 Good morning.
<And to you> I'm a new hobbyist, and have learned a
great deal from your website, but was wondering if you could help me
with a frustrating problem. I've followed lots of advice from your
site, and after about 6 weeks, I have the beginnings of some nice
coralline growth on my live rock. My problem is disappearing bottom
feeders, specifically a 3.5 inch algae blenny about two weeks ago
(never found a trace, in spite of moving around rocks), and now a new
3.5 inch sand-sifting orange spot goby who looked great sifting my sand
bed yesterday, and then just vanished. It's only been a day, but I
fear the worst. I have a 36 gallon bowfront, 4" deep sand
bed (Caribbean play sand), 10 pounds base lace rock, 40 pounds mixed
Florida and Fiji live rock, 2 internal powerheads, hang-on Prizm
skimmer, hang-on filter (for intermittent charcoal and mechanical
filtration), 2 65Watt power compact lights. Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates
undetectable. pH is 8.2 and temp steady around 80. Occupants are 2 true
percula clowns, one small coral beauty angel, 1 brittle star
(definitely not green), 1 common cleaner shrimp, 8 blue leg hermits, 3
red leg hermits, 5 Astrea snails, 5 Nassarius snails, and 2 small
emerald crabs (roughly ¾" across the shell).
After reading your site, my suspects are: 1: hidden predator (unseen
Mantis despite prevention attempts, and not seeing anything staying up
to watch at night) or... 2: the emeralds. 3: brittle star. I was hoping
you could help with my suspect list, and advice/course of action to
find the culprit. I'd be surprised to hear the emeralds or brittle
star are at fault given the size of them in relation to the missing
fish, but I'll defer to your experience. I would really like to get
on small bottom fish (preferably a goby or Jawfish), but I'm
frustrated with the losses (and the cost), so I don't want to add
anything else until I've sorted it out. I don't want to remove
all the rock, so my thought was to proceed with some sort of trap at
night. I'd love to tap your experience on: 1: Am I on the right
track in assuming I've got a mantis, or would you suspect another
culprit? 2: How common are mantis shrimp? I've read about them at
your site, but everybody at the LFS said they had never even seen a
mantis shrimp. How unlucky could I be with such a relatively small
amount of rock? 3: What to do about it... I've considered
fashioning some type of trap and baiting with shrimp, but I'd like
you advice on where to place it and what to bait it with. With the type
of fish disappearing, I'm unsure whether to trap near the rock, or
along the sandbed in the front. If there's a bad guy in there, I
suspect he's buried in the rock, and traps the fish when they are
either sleeping or foraging deep in the rock. I've had no trouble
(at least not yet) with the coral beauty, or the clowns. Thanks for a
great site!!!! I'm loving the hobby so far, but this particular
frustration is really giving me a fit (and my little boy gets really
upset when we lose a fish).... <Unless the brittle star is fairly
large, it doesn't appear you have any threat to your fish. Getting
mantis shrimp as hitchhikers in live rock isn't that uncommon. Do
you ever hear any clicking sounds at night? Are you sure the fish
aren't in a overflow box etc? Did you check the floor behind the
tank? If everything is OK in that regard, I'd probably get a mantis
trap and bait it with some frozen type of food. The orange spotted
gobies do best with a live sand bed and frequent feedings. Quite
possible he wasn't getting enough food and may be dead and buried
in the sand bed. Try stirring up the sand and see if that isn't the
case. James (Salty Dog)>