Disappearing Acts

• When fish, crustaceans and invertebrates begin to mysteriously disappear from your aquarium without a trace, the first assumption a lot of aquarists make is that a Mantis Shrimp is the culprit. Even though this is a prime sign that a Mantis Shrimp may be present in your tank, it sometimes can be a premature conclusion as well. There are other marine animals that can contribute to this same problem, as Scott Michael outlines in his Disappearing Fish Q&A article posted in the Aquarium Fish Online Fish Library. Do consider a Mantis Shrimp as the culprit, especially if fish are disappearing, but also investigate other possibilities thoroughly, before you start driving yourself nuts looking for one.

Popping, Clicking & Snapping Noises

• Some say when you hear clicking, popping or snapping noises coming from your tank, you have a Mantis Shrimp. Others say this is not so, that you have a Pistol Shrimp, and not a Mantis Shrimp. From what we have found throughout our investigative research, with the resources provided below you can see this topic is widely debated.

• • Albert Thiel's More On Mantis Shrimp response to questions asked about Pistol and Mantis Shrimps explains from his experiences the differences between how these two types of shrimp use their appendages for hunting. Both have the ability to make a popping or clicking noise, but do so differently in their own way.
  • From Lurker's Guide To Stomatopods, their how do you tell if there's a Mantis Shrimp in your tank page sheds some more light on the popping noise debate, and includes information on the differences between Pistol and Mantis Shrimps.
  • The Mantis Shrimp FAQ from Jeff Pfohl's Marine Aquaria Index contains some of the same content found in the "Mantis Shrimp are really cool" posting from The Krib, but once you get past the top section you'll find all kinds of additional exchanges between hobbyists here. There are plenty of comments and debate on whether the Mantis Shrimp have the ability to make clicking and popping noises or not, and it is a good reference for other information about these shrimp, such has how to care for them, remove them from an aquarium, and more.
  • From our own personal experiences, we would suspect a Pistol Shrimp before a Mantis Shrimp, because we have Pistols in our tank and hear these noises all the time. Pistol Shrimp are an unlikely candidate for attacking or killing fish, but they will punch holes in hermit crab, snail, and other mollusks shells to kill and eat the animals in them.

Burrows, Holes & Substrate Mounds Since these animals are natural burrowers, creating tubes or cavities in sand, rubble or mud, look for holes or tunnels in the substrate. These are usually accompanied by a mound of sand or substrate rubble piled up outside the hole. Pistol Shrimp have this characteristic trait as well, so if you find a hole like this, just dim the tank lights and sit back to see what comes out. Our Pistol Shrimps like to burrow "under" things, rather than directly in an open space of the substrate.
Next Page > Mantis Shrimp as Pets
Previous Page < What are Mantis Shrimp?