how loud is the clicking of a mantis shrimp?? i know it varies with size, but is it pretty definite?? i hear a clicking from time to time in my tank, but it's faily soft, and sporatic. i'm not sure what to listen for exactly, as i've never heard a mantis before...
Ya, could be, but from my experience pistol shrimp and mantis sounds completely different. Mantis are more of a quite, but much more often "clicking" type sound, where as a pistol is a very loud "snap" sound that is usually few and far between. If a pistol is getting harassed it will snap more, but usually one loud snap is enough to scare away anyone messing with a pistol and they usually don't go on the offensive like Mantis do.. a mantis on the otherhand will try and attack anyone pestering it, even going as far as killing.
Awww...I'm sorry. It's contagious this clicking sound hearing! I realized that my lights occasionally "clicked" as did my heater and timers. So did my snails when their shells hit against the glass of the tank. So, could be lots of things. Always better to be prepared for the worst but just keep in mind that it could be nothing.
well, i'm happy to say that i think it was just my clumsy hermits falling all over the place and banging their shells agains the rock and glass. i haven't lost anything in the tank over the past week, and i have a blood shrimp and several small hermits that i'm sure would have fallen victim if it were in fact a mantis. and i don't think it's a pistol now, thanks to ace's description...it sure isn't a loud "snap," it's more of a click or a tap. thanks everyone for the opinions. i was a little scared there for a while.