Arnold Shrimp-enegger?

[finneganswake]

I'm hoping someone out there can settle something for me. I've got a mantis shrimp at work, and I've been bragging to everyone about how bad it is. I get to work the other day, and a piece of live rock in the tank that is about 6" x 4" x 4" has been moved about 2". My mantis shrimp is maybe 4-5" long, so the rock has to weigh at least thirty times more than the shrimp. Is someone at my job playing a prank on me, or is my mantis shrimp even more amazing than I thought? Are they just as strong as they are smart and vicious?

 

[Wocka]

yes, they are very intellegent, smart, and cunning hunters.. i say he did it. toss a hermit crab in there and u will be amazed how cool they are.

 

[Neo-Fight]

I would say he didn't do it. If you think about it, even if the mantis was strong enough to move a big rock like that (who knows, I suppose they could be) he would have to have a place to stand that would resist the force it takes to move the rock. In other words, he would just spin his wheels as the substrate gave way to his little legs as he pushed. He could, of course, dig under the rock and cause it to shift that way.


Edit:
I thought I saw 2" inch mantis, when you said 4" to 5"... makes me a little less sure, but I still think he wouldn't be able to get good enough footing

 

[Gonodactylus]

First of all, the rock is underwater, so it weighs considereably less than it does in air. Secondly, they are that strong. In the field when constructing their burrows, O. scyllarus often move rocks bigger than they are. In an aquarium where they have walls or a firm bottom to push off of, they can move rocks several times their size.

Roy

 

[Uriel]

My Tern and my Scyllarus have both moved rocks that big, so i agree with a 'Yes'.

My Platy must really be eating his wheaties, because he has not only moved, but hauled rocks half his body size up into the 'air', and then smashed them into the opening of his 'hanging cave'.


On the subject of weights underwater, as Dr. Roy stated, rocks weigh much less. In the summer, I go up into the Sierras to gold dredge with my father. We use scuba when we are shifting bigger rocks underwater, and I have 'thrown' some (even without solid standing) that would give me a hernia on land, should I choose to repeate the feat.


-Ron