Mystery "lobster"

[jonah]

I've had this 14 lb chunk of liverock in a nano tank for about 6 months. Every snail and hermit crab in the tank has disappeared, leaving only pieces of shell and crab legs during that time. The logical guess was mantis shrimp. Today I smashed the rock apart with a hammer until I found what looked like a small, green, one clawed lobster, about 1" long. Obviously not a mantis shrimp, but it does look like it can do damage. I've got it in a plastic critter carrier now with some rubble to hide in. The rest of the rock went into a 10g. I'm going to put a hermit crab in the 10g and if it survives a week without being eaten I'll assume the little "lobster" is the culprit. :?

Sorry I can't do a picture now, my camera can't get something this small and the only people I know that could help me are both out of town right now.

[jonah]

After some experimentation with sacrificial hermit crabs I decided it was probably just a harmless pistol shrimp. The color was a little odd, but the shape is right. Whatever it was killing my snails and crabs apparently died when I cut off the heat on it's tank awhile back.

I posted a picture in my album at cichlidgallery.

www.cichlidgallery.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=cichlids&id=pistol

It's a bit more green in person.

[jnorris]

For the fun of it I would have given the "rock" its own tank.

That is too funny.....I will never look at live rock the same way....even though I won't need it...yet