Mantis Shrimp ID and question

[rjj175]

I've seen this hitchhiker only a couple times and have yet to get a good photo of him (sorry). It is certainly some type of mantis shrimp but does not have any identifying coloration. He is solid pink or fleshtone though. Does anyone know what this would be? Will it be a problem for any of my other inverts? He doesn't seem to be harming any of the corals. Should I be concerned?

Thanks
RJJ175

 

[EMG]

There is no way to identify it without a picture.

 

[D-Trick]

What kind of rock did it come off of?

All of your inverts are in danger of becoming a meal to the mantis. As for corals, mantis will move them around if they are really small frags. My mantis enjoys moving any rock that is almost his size. Right now he is in the process of shoving as many rocks as he can fit into a hole in one of pieces of live rock.

 

[Gonodactylus]

There is no way to positively identify it without having it in hand. Photos help, but often they are not sufficient. We can, however, make some guesses based on size, habitat, color, and origin. I'm going to assume that this animals is about an inch long or smaller and that it came in LR from the Indo-Pacific. That being the case, the most likely suspect would be in the genus Gonodactylellus., Most species in this genus live in coral or LR and few get larger than 30-40 mm. Given the color, I would guess that this animal is from moderate depth 5-20 m. If that is the case, the most likely suspect is G. affinis, a very common species found living throughout the Indo-Pacific, usually at depth below 5 m. They rarely get larger than 25-30 mm and take small prey, often from the water column. Tiny snails and crabs might be at risk, but anything bigger than half and inch is probably safe.

Roy

 

[rjj175]

Thanks to all. I'll try to post one or two of the photos I DO have but I think Roy did a pretty thorough job of describing it. It is about 1" long and came in on Fiji rock.

 

[Neo-Fight]

There is no way to positively identify it without having it in hand. Photos help, but often they are not sufficient. We can, however, make some guesses based on size, habitat, color, and origin. I'm going to assume that this animals is about an inch long or smaller and that it came in LR from the Indo-Pacific. That being the case, the most likely suspect would be in the genus Gonodactylellus., Most species in this genus live in coral or LR and few get larger than 30-40 mm. Given the color, I would guess that this animal is from moderate depth 5-20 m. If that is the case, the most likely suspect is G. affinis, a very common species found living throughout the Indo-Pacific, usually at depth below 5 m. They rarely get larger than 25-30 mm and take small prey, often from the water column. Tiny snails and crabs might be at risk, but anything bigger than half and inch is probably safe.

Roy

Wow... can you tell what he had for dinner? :lol: