Do mantis shrimp ever form commensal relationships?

[Recty]

Similar to a pistol shrimp and a goby... do mantis shrimp ever pair up with another "critter" and do the commensal relationship relationship thing?

Or are they all just totally loners who only hang out with other mantis when they are looking to reproduce?

The reason I ask is I added a 2" dottyback to my 3" G. smithii's tank, and they keep coming in and out of the same holes. I saw him late Friday afternoon, so 1 week and 2 days on his molt, and that was the same day I added the dottyback. That was three days ago, and the dottyback is totally healthy still, eating and no damage to it's fins or body, so the mantis isnt even attempting to take it down.

There is a network of holes in one piece of LR that the mantis always goes in and out of, today is no exception and the dottyback is doing the same thing. I'm sure they are meeting up somewhere in the middle and crossing paths... is this unheard of? Is the dottyback living on borrowed time? Or can I expect them to be, if not commensal, at least have a decent chance of being peaceful with one another?

 

[TundraGuy]

I have seen this with a few different mantis/fish and I have seen this go on for years and sometimes this does not last more than a couple months. My buddy down in Phx kept this ugly angel we finally got out of his 300 mixed reef with his Peacock. The two of them would stare out at you from the same cave often touching one another. This went on till one day he lost his mantis. So its all up to the mantis I suppose. But you know the rule book of mantis keeping and rule # 12 is don’t keep anything with your mantis you’re not willing to lose.

 

[Gonodactylus]

There are a few reported commensal relationships. Lysiosquillina are frequently photographed with small cleaner shrimp; ostracods are ofen found in the entrance of Hemisquilla burrows; there is a snapping shrimp that lives in Squilla mantis burrows; an ectoparasitic snail that lives on gonodactylids, etc. No reported fish / stomatopod associations in the wild.

Roy

 

[Kharn]

Through reading on what there is to offer for this subject I came to the conclusion that the relationship between Lysiosquillinas and other cleaner shrimp etc. is more darker then what it appears to be....

Stomatopods in general lack the need for 'cleaner helpers' the stomatopods own appendages can reach every part of its body to clean and they clean themselves nearly every second throughout the day.

The conclusion was that, the little cleaner shrimps hang around the Lysiosquillina for protection and a minor source of food, meanwhile the Lysioquillina uses these little shrimp almost like bait, knowing that fish love to eat them and so the fish come to try and eat the little shrimp.

That is what was concluded on since there isn't really any other reason as to having the relationship....