Possible mantis hole?

[Fossil1223]

Yesterday when i was doing a water change, i siphoned off couple of pieces of live rock that were dirty. Today i noticed that there is a small section (roughly 1 inch by 1 inch) of the rock that has sand piled up on it. The rock is 3/4 of the way up my tank, so i think the sand must have came out of the live rock. Is this consistant with a mantis shrimp. I have no idea, but it just seems like it would be consistant with the burrowing nature of mantis shrimp. I do have Florida live rock, so i know mantis shrimp are common in it. I really hope i have one. I think they are the coolest. What a great excuse to set up a 10 gallon tank. Let me know what you think. Hope i'm not being over optimistic.

Joel

 

[Agu]

If it's Florida rock it would most likely be a neogonodactylus wennerae.

Two things you could try to determine if you have a mantis,

Put a small piece of shrimp or fish on a skewer and position the food right in front of the hole. You may catch a glimse of a hungry mantis coming out for food.

Check the hole after lights out and/or before lights on. A mantis will typically cover the entrances to it's burrow with rock rubble or shells before resting.

hth,

Agu