Well so much for and early bed time tonight

[Skimmin]

So it's Sunday night about 11:30 and I'm just about off to bed and then... CLICK!... CLICK! Uh oh... Over the last little while I've been purchasing live rock and live stock from a few people who have either been shutting down(seems like that season) or just taking a break. I'm one of those border line lunatic saltwater FREAKS that when I get something in my head I have to do it or it bugs the heck out of me. This time just so happens to be Sunday night. So back to the click, click. I was thinking I may have picked up a mantis along the way with all the new live rock, seeings I removed 5 rock crabs from my rock when I initially picked it up. Well tonight in 2 hours (which I don't think is too long) I managed to find the rock the noise was coming from, AND managed to get to the source of the noise out, with out ripping apart my entire tank for a change lol. It's now almost 1:30am and 6:30am is gonna come really soon. Oh well atleast I got to the bottom of my mystery. If anyone is interested in a pair of pistol shrimp please let me know. They are just little guys but they're pretty cool and free to a good home.

[no_bs]

Better than a mantis, right.

[Myka]

Them shrimp have you "pistol whipped"! har har har

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Myka

Them shrimp have you "pistol whipped"! har har har

[aquajeep]

lol i had the same thing happen.i couldnt get em out so i left the rock out till it died.

[Black Phantom]

I saw this article about the shrimp a while ago and thought it was pretty cool

Originally, biologists thought that the snapping sound of pistol shrimp was caused by clicking the claws of the snapping arm. However, the sound is actually caused by a cavitation bubble. When a pistol shrimp snaps its claw, it sends out a high speed jet of water which creates turbulence, resulting in the formation of low pressure bubbles. When the high pressure of the ocean pops the bubbles, they emit a sharp “crack” just like a pistol.

It also appears that the bubbles emit a brief flash of light when they collapse. This is because the bubbles compress so quickly that the air inside cannot escape. As a result, it becomes superheated, sometimes approaching the surface temperature of the sun. The flash of light is referred to as “sonoluminesence,” and it appears to be unique to pistol shrimp, as biologists have not observed a similar phenomenon in connection with other animals.

Although pistol shrimp are not much of a threat to people, they pack a serious punch for such small creatures!