Brittle stars being eaten!

[tapeworm]

I woke up this morning to find my two brittle stars with bites taken out of their bodies and legs missing, as in spread around in little pieces.
This is a peaceful reef tank, but I just bought a couple of polip rocks from a LFS.
After putting them in my tank, I noticed that there are eyes popping out of one of the rocks. I grabbed the rock, used twizzers to get out the Mantis Shrimp, but he escaped back into the tank.
I tried setting up a trap for him, but he didnt fall for it.
Do you think he is the one eating my brittle stars? They were perfectly healthy before I put those rocks in.
Any ideas on how to get rid of the Mantis Shrimp?
Will the brittle stars recover their legs after I eliminate him?
Thanks in advance.

 

[jourdy]

i also have a brittle star that got eaten.
but i saw it with my own eyes.
it was a black brittlestar of some sort, a hitch hiker from a newly acquired rock. it was small, about half an inch in diameter. when it went to the sand, the hermit crabs instantly cut off its legs and began eatin it.

 

[judyk]

I don't know about brittle stars doing it, but my serpentine got chewed up by a gorrilla crab and it grew everything back. I can't help you with the mantis shrimp. I think I have one in each of my tanks but have never seen them. I just hear the clicking noise every night.

 

[brian90vette]

thats funny a gorilla crab tore up my stars as well.

 

[ophiura]

Yes, they will regrow the arms, unless the damage to their disk is extensive. Be sure to spot feed them so they get some extra nutrition. However, so long as the beast is in there, they may be fair game for him to eat.