Coral Banded ate a mantis shrimp!!

[DEIGNAN14]

I was feeding the tank.. shut off the powerheads and dropped in some mysis...

The CBS allready had a mouthful when a small mantis strayed out from a rock...

The CBS grabbed him and killed him in seconds... little guy didnt put up much of a fight...

Made my night!!! Two down... who knows how many to go....

Anyone heard of this??


Jason

 

[DEIGNAN14]

Pic!

Pic!

Heres the best shot I could get...

Sorry about the storm... I just blew off some detrius from the rocks.... may have been what cause the mantis to come out...

 

[DEIGNAN14]

I am willing to rent him out!!!

Id love to send him on vacation and bring in some peppermints to rid me of some tiny aiptasia....

If you in the Boston area and you have tiny mantis problems drop me a line!

Thanks,
Jason

 

[joefitz]

Quite cool!

I get the impression that you feel your CBS will eat peppermints? I'm not sure if this is typical but I have a pretty large CBS and he doesn't touch my peppermints.

Joe

 

[mx250]

That is awsome! I have had my mantids kill crabs 10x their mass (a horrible aftermath to see, by the way). It's cool to see that some other critter may hold its weight against a mantis.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Any mantis shrimp is vulnerable when it molts. There is a period before the molt, about a day for a small gonodactylid) and two or three times as long after it molts that the stomatopod cannot strike, or at most strike weakly. Also, their body armor is soft. It is not inconceivable that a scavenger could catch and kill one at this time.

Roy

 

[DEIGNAN14]

I think you must be right... this guy didnt put up much of a fight at all... it tried to strike but didnt seem to get it anywhere...