Mantis Shrimp - Can anyone ID this specific one?

Pretty sure this guy is a mantis shrimp. Can anyone possibly ID which kind he is? He has been known to eat cerith eggs. There are several snail shells around the vicinity of his den under a piece of LR, but they are just empty shells, not smashed.

 

maybe? i dont know

Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Lime Green Mantis Shrimp

 

i'm not sure if their colors change as they mature, but this guy still looks pretty small. i'm going though a phase right now where i really want a mantis

 

Do you want it? I'm trying to trap it!

 

You would definitely need a better picture for a positive id but here's a website to help you out.

Roy's List of Stomatopods for the Aquarium

 

best guess is a green mantis try to get a better pic and ill see wat i can come up with

 

If he was a hitch hiker on your live rock, what kind of rock do you have? Florida/Caribbean?

It's tough to tell from the picture. But we might be able to narrow it down from the location he came from.

 

It is Florida Live Rock. If it makes any difference as well, he was out during the daylight hours eating cerith eggs.

 

Most likely a N. wennerae if it's Florida live rock. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...costraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_wennerae Possibly a N. bredini too. It doesn't make much difference as they are fairly harmless little critters except to your snail population as you've found. Figure out where his den is and target feed it periodically so it will leave your snails alone. These species canNOT break your glass and canNOT break your finger. If you don't want it, trap it and advertise it. There are lots of people who like them.

 

I've got a N. Wennerae as a pet, who was a rescue from another reefer's tank I love them. As inwall said, you can target feed it (mine eats krill, mysis, and other stuff off of tongs, along with the occassional snail) or trap it and try to find someone to take it in. Maybe get in touch with your LFS. If the LFS is the kind that doesn't kill mantis whenever they see one, they'll normally hang on to it and look for people like me to take it in.