Is this a Mantis?

for some reason it doesn't look like a mantis to me....
it doesn't have the features: the eyes, the appendages, and the antennae are kinda funny looking
 
I'm not an expert, but it still doesn't look quite right....
are the eyes on stalks... actually, are the eyes stalks themselves?
and the telson doesn't look right,
and the antennae still look wrong...
and I can't see the appendages good, otherwise I could mention if that looks ok too....
but, like I said, I'm not an expert. I think it just doesn't look 'right'
 
Be that as it may, I must take precaution and quarantine this being until proper ID can be obtained. Since I am trying to revive an abused reef, I wish not to risk it.

I would like to thank those who respond and offer assistance:D
 
ive found that exact thing in my sump..im wondering what it is..i kinda tend to think they are mantis...but im not very good and identifying anything fishy here
 
ahhh, make it its own nano and see how big it gets and what it becomes :)
mantises make great pets, and if it isn't a mantis, then you might get a pet shrimp
 
ok, now I just need your help in convincing my girlfriend that the 80g in the livingroom would be perfect for the mantis shrimp!:eek1:

We just broke it down for storage, it was a freashwater tank.:p
 
i didnt take any chances and put the dude into the garbage disposal....i keep my rock well propped up with branching coral so that the fish can swim all around my larger rock..kinda on stilts so maybe thats why the mantis whatevers they are cant live in my tank!!
 
you did what???? That's just an amphipod. You want those in your tank, they're a sign of it being a healthy tank.
 
to adress several glaring errors:
1. if you own a reef tank then be now you should be very familiar with that LITTLE creature, an amphipod, they chew on algae and ditritus, and generally are a good sign in the tank, unless you see tons of them in the open (thats a bail out)
2 if it were a mantis, and it isn't, how much damage could it do being that it's hardly larger than the dashed lines > ---- < ?
3. mantis shrimp are very very very unlikely to damage coral, they'll eat fish that are less than half their size or pound on small inverts. while some are capable of much greater feats, it's un typical. my mantis tank is also my frag propagation tank = ) i also have small hermits and astarea snails and an emeral crab, no losses yet.
4. amphipods don't move rocks, they scurry about them, even if it were a mantis, at that size what would it do? poor little fella
 
Amphipods

Amphipods

A lot of amphipods in the open are bad? i have a lot...but not a flood of them. i'm starting to think that they burrowed into the base of my LPS (i.e. frogspawn). should i get a fish that eats them? thanks.

jon
 
and thats the reason that in this hobby we don't throw things out until we know what they are, and if they are good or bad
alot of people in this board LIKE mantis shrimp.
the only damage they will do to corals is rearranging... I have featherdusters in with George, (since friday) and he hasn't even looked at them yet...
they don't eat things like featherdusters and coral. they eat snails and crabs.... spearers eat fish...
so, having a mantis in a tank could be feasible, you just have to know what type he is and keep him happy!!!!

AND STOP FLUSHING THINGS DOWN THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL
 
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