mantis strimp

i think i saw 2 this morning when my lights came on they were sourending my Ricordea that did'nt look so good this morning do they noramally move when the lights come on or stay a while and then move had to leave for school so did'nt get to watch them

how small are they at the smallest these were smaller than 1/4 inch

do they eat Ricordea because it looked bad(strivled up) this morning (it's back to normal)

the reason i think there mantis strimp is because they moved like one (that fast walking swimming motion

 

Hi!!! Mantis Shrimps are not actually shrimps!!!
So the way you can tell what it is is, if they have eyes like a shrimp-Which is black eyes on their heads, or if its a Mantis Shrimp, their eyes are on long stalks and move independently from each other. Mantis Shrimp eyes are very boggly
They have appendages that are usually held in close to their body, whereas an actual shrimp usually have those claws held out.
The tail will look exactly like any other shrimps, which is how they get their name. So best way to tell is look at those eyes, and appendages.
Mantiss only come out during the day, and they eat small crustaceans and can be tiny- less than 1cm, to huge 30cm!! Hope this helps, let me know when you have had another look at him...

 

Yeah....take a look on UTube. Just type in Mantis Shrimp. You will get an idea about what they are and what they can do. From the sound of it, that is what you were looking at. They have a distinctive movement. I really like them.....in a species tank. I want a Peacock Mantis one day.

 

yeh, good idea! Have a looky at youtube. Although there are a lot of 'attacking' vids, so it paints them in an unattractive light, if you not into that stuff. But they are amazing creatures when you start getting into them, mine is a tiny lil one that NEVER come out of his house! EVER!!

Also, most of the Mantis Vids are of the colourful peacock variety, but there are loads of sizes and colours... This is a good page if you want to scroll through to see if you recognize yours Roy's List of Stomatopods for the Aquarium