Anyone want a mantis shrimp?

[Markarian421]

We've had a mantis shrimp in our tank for quite a while, finally got it out today by removing the chunk of rock it had made a burrow in. It's a peacock mantis, maybe almost 3" long now. We didn't have anywhere to keep it so we dropped it off at a LFS -- we were going to just trade them for live rock, but they didn't have any chunks of live rock the right size. So now we're just leaving it there for a while hoping it will come out of the rock so we can get that chunk of rock back. Even though they told us to bring it in I got the feeling they weren't crazy about having the mantis, especially while it's hiding in a chunk of rock (making both the mantis and the rock of limited use to them). So if you're interested send me an email and we'll see if we can work something out.

Here's a photo we took a couple months ago when it was smaller, the lighting isn't good but you can see a little of its color. The water was too murky today for any good photos.


Photo on Flickr

 

[Markarian421]

I should add: we're in the Fremont/Newark/Union City area, as is the shrimp.

 

[sandiegan]

If you're looking to get rid of it for free I'll take it later this week. I also know how to get them out.

 

[seminolecpa]

If you know where his lair is. Take out the rock and squirt a little RO water into the hole. He will come out.

 

[humuhumupukapuka]

Good eats!

 

[smokenax]

pm sent

 

[Markarian421]

Thanks, I got a few emails, most of which my spam filter helpfully hid from me. I'll check with the LFS today if I can and see if he ever came out of the rock.

To answer some questions:

Am I sure it's a peacock?
When I've gotten a good look at him, his shell is green and his claws are red, blue and green. I think that makes him a peacock, but all I can say for sure is that he's very colorful. My camera can't focus very close so I don't have any good pictures (those above are the best I got).

How much do I want for it?
Personally I don't want anything for him, I'm just glad to have him out of the tank (we've spent the last couple days repopulating it). But he's such an interesting guy I'd like to see if I can find someone that actually wants him -- if we had a good place to keep him we would. Now if the LFS has managed to coax him out of the rock in the last couple days, I imagine they'll want something for their trouble. But they were also muttering about how hard it is to sell a mantis, so they might not want much. If I find out they got him out, I'll just direct you to the store.

And if he's still in the rock . . . it's a nice big chunk of live rock (I think at least 10 lbs) with coraline algae and mushrooms, I'd want something for the rock.

 

[Jacob D]

I'll go out on a limb and say that's it's a G. smithii... which are really neat little guys. Do you know if he has eye spots on his front appendages? Should make a nice pet for someone who wants him. I miss my mantises.

 

[Markarian421]

I haven't gotten a good enough look to see if it has those spots. I do see, looking up peacocks, that I don't think it has the spots along the side of the shell that peococks do, so unless those don't develop until later, Gonodactylus smithii might be more likely than Odontodactylus scyllarus (peacock). The LFS was closed by the time I got home, hopefully I'll be able to check in with them tomorrow, and I'll see if I can get any better photos -- unless he's dug a deeper burrow, his burrow isn't very deep.