What shrimp could I have and can an N. wennerae mantis "click" like a pistol shrimp?

[Fish Fan]

I started two small tanks back on November 13th with rock and sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater, I have a 15 gallon as my "main" tank and a 10 gallon dedicated to an N. wennerae Florida mantis. Right after I setup the tanks, I noticed the most teeny, tiny little baby shrimp in the mantis tank. I mean, this shrimp looked like a freshwater ghost shrimp, and a baby one at that. I didn't want the mantis to go after the shrimp, so I rather unceremoniously scooped the shrimp out of the mantis tank, and tossed him in the 15 gallon tank. I haven't seen the shrimp since, and I actually forgot all about him.

Until today when plain as day I see this little shrimp on the rock. I call my wife over, she sees him too. We only got a very short glimpse of him, but my recollection is that it was maybe an inch long and mostly brown possibly with some white stripes, I can't really be sure. My wife thought it had more red. It blended into the rock very well.

I looked at the list of hitchhikers on the TBS website, and the only shrimp they list is a pistol shrimp Alpheus heterochaelis.

Could I have a pistol shrimp or are there any other shrimp this could be?

Additionally, from day one I have been hearing a little "click, click, click" coming from the tanks. These two tanks are at the moment side-by-side to each other. When I first heard the clicks, I did some research and many said that the mantis can make a clicking noise similar to a pistol shrimp when they are bashing rock or a snail or whatever, so I always assumed that I'm just hearing the mantis doing his thing. But maybe not?

Any thoughts on what kind of shrimp I saw, and if an N. wennerae mantis can make a clicking noise?

Thanks very much!

 

[Katrina71]

Does it have blue legs?

 

[Fish Fan]

Does it have blue legs?

I just caught a glimpse of it again and got the following picture. I don’t think this is a pistol shrimp. I know this is a bad pic. It’s sort of brownish red with white stripes across its tail.

 

[Katrina71]

https://aquariumbreeder.com/saron-shrimp-detailed-guide-care-diet-and-breeding/ Does it look like this?

 

[Katrina71]

More pics please

 

[Fish Fan]

More pics please

LOL! I wish I could! I can barely get a glimpse of him.

https://aquariumbreeder.com/saron-shrimp-detailed-guide-care-diet-and-breeding/ Does it look like this?

It has that body shape with the kind of hunched back, but is not that colorful at all. I don't think it's a pistol shrimp after all.

 

[Fish Fan]

Maybe it's something like this?

Palaemon floridanus - Florida Grass Shrimp?

https://www.reeflex.net/tiere/9783_Palaemon_floridanus.htm

 

[Fish Fan]

 

[Fish Fan]

 

[Tired]

Interesting little guy! Not sure what he is, but I wouldn't be too worried about him. The TBS hitchhiker section seems to mainly list more common and/or more striking hitchhikers- it certainly doesn't cover everything.

Any smasher mantises can produce a clicking sound as they dig at the rock or smash shells open. I have a tiny (~1") N. wennerae myself that, from the tiny clicks, I had thought at first was a pistol shrimp. Loud popping like a cap gun, maybe muffled by the rocks, tends to be a pistol. Softer clicks could be either.

 

[Fish Fan]

Interesting little guy! Not sure what he is, but I wouldn't be too worried about him. The TBS hitchhiker section seems to mainly list more common and/or more striking hitchhikers- it certainly doesn't cover everything.

Any smasher mantises can produce a clicking sound as they dig at the rock or smash shells open. I have a tiny (~1") N. wennerae myself that, from the tiny clicks, I had thought at first was a pistol shrimp. Loud popping like a cap gun, maybe muffled by the rocks, tends to be a pistol. Softer clicks could be either.

Thank you for the reply! I’m not worried about the shrimp being not reef safe or anything, I was just shocked to see it, and had no idea what kind of shrimp it is. I think it may be some kind of Florida grass shrimp.

Yeah, I am pretty sure I’ve seen my smasher doing its thing.and I could hear the clicking sounds. I haven’t witnessed that recently, so I thought maybe I was mistaken, but others have confirmed this too.