Pistol Shrimp???

[Snoogans]

I have several little shrimp in my tank and am living in fear of the little guys. I have reviewed pics of both pistol shrimp and mantis shrimp but am unable to ID the ones in my tank.

They are about 2-3cm, slim fairly transparent body. They have one small claw and one considerably larger white claw. I have the clicking sound coming from my tank, very loud, just one or 2 clicks at a time. They are very shy and therefore difficult to get a photo of.

I have been told to kill them and not take the risk but I am reluctant to do this in case they are pistol shrimps. I would hope that most of us, given our hobby, would prefer to preserve our little creatures if possible, rather than killing them out of fear of what might happen.

I have had one clown disappear (no trace of body) and have spotted a baby brittle star missing some limbs, whos hole, one of the shrimp now lives in. I also have 2 black hairy crabs who are currently my prime suspects.

Any ideas as to which shrimp I might have would be appreciated

 

[Reefscape]

My first thoughts are pistol shrimps as they are not an equal handed shrimp. However, these shrimp are quite blind which is why they form the symbiotic relationship with the goby..the goby is the eyes on the ground so to speak...The transparent body, for me, also points towards a pistol shrimp too..

However, due to the size of them, i would not say that is what killed the clown..

On the mantis note, hopefully someone with more experience can chime in here, as i dont know if mantis shrimp babys start of as un-equal hands at this size...

With all the above said, i cannot say exactly without seeing a picture of what you have...

Niko

 

[Snoogans]

I was hoping someone would steer me towards them being pistols. I will try sneak a photo of them and post it on here.

I was going to type something about hiding in the dark with a camera but probably best I avoid sending this thread in that direction