Pistol or Mantis?

[VINA DEL MAR]

I found this one in my tank 2 years ago when I removed my sand bed.I hunted him for years trying numerous methods but nope he just keep running away.
When the time came to remove my live rocks and everything I knew was counted for I proceded to used a small propane torch and make a few passes around my live rocks,well he jumped off and to the LFS he went.
Just sharing a little story.I know now that they are very intelligent creatures.

VINA

 

[Nautilus]

I thought those were mussels not rock clams?
ANYONE?

 

[GrendelPrime]

nice worm :tongue:

 

[Woodstock]

Could be mussles...dunno.

LOL Vic! It is a purty worm

 

[gussy]

Hey! Maybe it's your snails knocking on the tank glass with their shells at night!

 

[NaH2O]

Doni - that pic doesn't resemble a fireworm, but more like an Eunicid worm. Fireworms have white tufts of bristles, and I can't tell from the photo, but it doesn't appear like the photos of fireworms I've seen. Here is a quote about worms in the Eunicidae Family:

the major characters for identification for the identification of eunicid species would be the absence of white tufts of setae, and the presence of five large and visible antennae (large relative to the worm, not the aquarist), such antennae are typically about two to three body diameters in length. Colors are secondary characters with these animals, but the Palola worms are often dark colors, while the Eunice individuals are, typically, shades of brown. The only other large worm likely to be found in aquaria is the lysaretid polychaete Oenone fulgida. These animals are related the Eunicids, and, like them, possess jaws. They have three small antennae tucked in the groove between the two segments that make up the head, and a single dark eyespot may be visible on either side of the head.

Also:

As with all fireworms, this species has no jaws to bite off chunks of food, rather it must lick them to death. As the worm lacks the jaws to sever the pieces of its prey, feeding in Hermodice is a prolonged process. When they feed, Hermodice individuals typically swallow the ends of a gorgonian or soft coral and then proceed to lick the flesh off of it, while the ends are still attached to the colony. Such feeding is a lengthy process; it takes hours. During this period the worm really isn't going to go anywhere, it is tethered to its dinner. This species is also an obligate predator of these prey, although it may scavenge a bit, it will not, - in fact, it cannot, - eat other prey.

From the article: A Large Worm Turns...

Hope this helps with identifying what was creeping in your rock

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks Nikki!

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Doni,

Eunicid worms are indigenous to the Pacific. Is your LR from that region?

 

[Woodstock]

This particular piece of LR was purchased in Florida while on vacation; it had blue ricordias on it, a large gorgonian (Muricea fruticosa), and a vermetid snail. I do not know where it originated from.

 

[Woodstock]

I heard random clicks coming from the tank early this morning again.

 

[NHLblues44]

Doni,
Really sounds like a mantis to me. I heard those loud clickung sounds coming from a rock last year and within a week I saw his little head poking out of a rock so I removed the rock and inspected it. The was a perfectly round tunnel he crawled into so I took a phillips screwdriver and shoved into the hole to start breahing the rock apart. Then I heard a sound like a gunshot almost,hehe, he shot out a piece of rock at me like a cannon then he came strutting out like he was a BA and was gonna attack me. I nabbed him and put him in this bowl and took him to the LFS and gave him to them. Very pretty creatures but watch your fingers! Here's a pic of the one I cought. Good luck!

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Get a red light and take some No-Doz so you can do some lights out investigation Doni. Just don't let the cops catch you hangin' out by the red light, eh?

 

[Woodstock]

:LOL:

 

[NaH2O]

Craig - I believe the Stomatopod can see red light, as well.

Stomatopod Vision

 

[Woodstock]

Fyi... I still hear the clicking noise during the night time hours. It is VERY difficult to tell which area/rock it is coming from! :lookaroun

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Sounds like real fun Doni, yikes! Anything dead or missing?

 

[Woodstock]

Nope. Nothing missing.

 

[Gina]

I can't believe you haven't caught it yet!
You need to start thinking like a Mantis!! LOL

 

[mps9506]

Just stick your finger into all the holes in your live rock, if something splits open your finger, you know what you have and where it is

We located our mantis by camping out next to the tank one night and listening very carefully to where the clicks were coming from, narrowed it down to three rocks, pulled em out and did the seltzer water trick. We went through 4 2 liter bottles

 

[Woodstock]

LOL Gina!

MIke.. Let me borrow one of your fingers :tongue:

I did the seltzer trick on one rock but nothing came out . I guess I had the wrong one. I'll keep trying to locate the sound....