What is my pistol shrimp doing?

[fasteddie99]

I bought a piece of rock a couple weeks ago with Zoo's on it and later discovered the pistol shrimp hitch hiker inside one of the big caves. There are 2 entrances to his lair, one on top, one on the side. The one on the top I cant see into so I always check him out with a flashlight through the side door. Well I must be p***ing him off with the light bec ause I noticed the side door being boarded up with the bigger pieces of sand and and stuff and is almost complete. Is this the pistol shrimp doing this? I never see him outside his lair and never see him near the pebbles he is piling up, but I am assuming it is. It stinks because thats the only way to see him. :cool:

[Octoberfest]

Yeah that is the pistol shrimp doing that. I have two in my tank and rarely see them.

[reeferstace]

Even pistols need their privacy. :)

[fasteddie99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13607424#post13607424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeferstace
Even pistols need their privacy. :)

Apparently so...:D

[Agu]

That behavior is more typical of a mantis shrimp. When I had a mantis it would block the entrances every night and clear them in the morning, the pistol shrimp I now have doesn't do that.

fwiw,

[fasteddie99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13608080#post13608080 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
That behavior is more typical of a mantis shrimp. When I had a mantis it would block the entrances every night and clear them in the morning, the pistol shrimp I now have doesn't do that.

fwiw,

Well, it very well could be a mantis because I dont know the difference. I can only describe it because I cant get a pic of it. It is about 1" long, dark grey, with lighter horizontal stripes across his tail. His right claw is 3x the size of the left which made me think it was a pistol. Here's the thing, shouldnt I have heard him clicking by now? I never heard one but I understand they are surprisingly loud, but I havent heard anything yet. Could it be a mantis?