is this a mantis or bad shrimp

i got this rock which was a xmas tree corral at one time is this a bad shrimp living in the hole i have 2 of them on this

 

i cant see anything...er well is the the thingu in pic 39 thats in the center of the pic? is there any way to get a better pic?

 

hmm from what i see it does looks kinda like a mantis but... im not sure? anyone else? if it is...and u wanna get rid of it u can put the rock...o wait nvm...u would put ur little wormies at rist....hmm this sure is a pickle...

 

yea thats it. ill try to get a better pic. it also has which you cant see in the pic long feathery things that stick up like fetherduster worms that seem to trapping small particals to eat.

 

hay bill if u dont know what it is I would remove the rock take a saringe of some sort w/ very hot water and drop it in the hole that it comes out of, just so u dont ruin the rest of the rock, I purchased some live rock from local pet shop that had 3 of those and 1 of them was about 2 1/2 in. move very fast, i couldnt figure out what the heck it was till I was explaining to friend that its a cross w/ a praying mantis head w/ a shrimp body, thats when he said " its a mantis shrimp" at first I laughed thought he just made that up but, I went on the internet and read about it, went home that night and removed rock and did exactly what I told u to do, should kill it instantlly, did for me..... cant make out those pictures very well, does look like its wearing boxing gloves though.....

 

hmm im pretty sure they r mantis shrimp...how ever unless u have small fish...u dont..."really" need to take em out...however they can be a problem when they get bigger...i never like to say "kill it" but...it might be for the best...unless u just bring the rock back or somthing...

 

Looks like a mantis to me. Now you have to decide what to do with it

 

Killing it isn't really necessary. People will pay good money to take it off your hands so if you can get it out of the tank, do so and see if you can sell it.

 

Mantis shrimp are very bad and are problems at any size. They will kill snails, crabs, other shrimp, fish, anything they can get their claws on. They also grow pretty quickly and become bigger problems.

It looks like you're lucky, however, in that it is in a single rock. Pull it out of the tank and try shooting fresh water down the holes as someone suggested. If that doesn't work, you may need to submerge the entire rock.

Be very careful after you get it out and don't pick it up with your bare hands. Even a small mantis can whack your hand and draw blood. Divers call these things thumb splitters for a reason.

They are bad news...

Darren

 

One of the common myths in this hobby. Smashing mantis are not capable of taking down fish unless they're extremely hungry and/or lucky. The most you'll lose if you decide to leave it in the tank are your crabs, shrimp and snails.