Are these Mantis shrimp???

Ok...I finally got a good look at the "things" as they've been coming more and more out of their worm tubes. The largest looks about 1 inch and the smallest is about 1 cm. But the more and more I look at them...I'm not sure if they're mantis shrimp? Do mantis shrimp have a different morphology when their juvenile vs when they're adults?

I've attached a couple of pics. They're not the greatest but hopefully someone can tell me definatively what these things are? In any case..they're very cool.


These are pics of all three "mantis shrimp". I caught the big one attacking the one in the hole and now he's separated in a jar.
 
ive caughtne many mantis shrimp...grown and semi juvenile..their claws are what lead me to belive those are not mantis shrimp....mantis shrimps keep their clawes close to their body...just like a praying mantis..hence the name..those pics show regular shrimp like claws more outward..but im not an expert
 
bigstroll2 shows the claws the best i think...which i know pretty sure mantis' do not have open pinchers like that..at least the ones that i used to catch.. pretty sure they are not..just cool lil shrimpies..
 
those don't look like any mantis shrimp I've seen.

But I've never kept the mantis shrimp I"ve caught in my tank to grow them large... But those look more like "traditional" shrimp.

You should post this in Dr. Rons forum (if you havn't already) and see what he has to say about them.


If they end up being safe for reefs I'll take one:D
 
Maybe they were mating??? Don't look like mantis to me either. They may just live there. I'd leave them in until I found out otherwise.
 
They don't make any noise at all...not even when attacking each other. From my understanding the pistol shrimp makes a pop noise to stun their prey.....this didn't happen with the big guy and the the guy in the whole attacked each other.
 
Not mantis shrimps, I'm pretty sure.

Don't know what they are, but some of the photos show one large claw and one small one. So they could be sub adult pistol shrimps, or even adult ones of a small species.
 
I agree, deffinately not Mantis shrimp.
not Pistol shrimp
not sexy shrimp
possibly some type of "anemone shrimp" Periclimenes sp.

either way they seem really cool!
Were they hitchhicker on LR or on a coral?
Do they both live in the same hole or seperate holes
I am jealous:D

-B-
 
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