Big Ben Grimm

[O'Coralman]

pic

pic

Roy..it would help to know further......I can bring the pics up......hmmmm.....since I plan to aquire more an id would help.....Ben was at about 77-79( lasted about 10 days and had not eaten yet. Little Ben was slow to eat when I got him so I was not concerned yet.............if needed I'll get the pic to you somehow. My other mantis is fine at this temp but he does not look like Big Ben...any help would be appreciated. You think temp was too hot?

 

[Hwarang]

O'Coralman, do you have a server to upload to and just post the URL of the pix, avoiding the problem of RC's funky image attachements?

 

[Gonodactylus]

I can log into the gallery using Explorer, but not with Netscape of Mozilla.

John and I spent a few days troubleshooting, erasing cookies, etc., but never found a solution.

Hemisquilla californiense doe reach almost a foot in length, but it is a whimp compared to O. scyllarus in terms of smashing power. I guess that is to be expected of an animal that mostly eats worms.


Roy

 

[Gonodactylus]

O.K., I looked at the images using Internet Explorer. I can see enough to know that this is not O. scyllarus or Hemisquilla. It is in fact a very large Squillid. I am assuming that it came from the East Coast. If so, it is probably Squilla empusa. The largest one I have ever seen was 18.5 cm - a little over 7 inches. This is measured from the eyes to the tip of the telson.

This is definitely a spearer. If you pull open the raptorial appendage, on the last segment of the claw there will be a number of spines. S. empusa has six.

If it is S. empusa, this species is common from Rhode Island to the Gulf. I've never had great luck keeping them in aquaria since they like to burrow in mud. They can live in water with a great temperature range, but can't take sudden shifts in temperature.

Roy

 

[O'Coralman]

?....was Ben..

?....was Ben..

ThX Roy.....I'll pull Ben out of the freezer and check him out. I'll get better pics of those areas and post them.It would be nice to know what Little Ben is so I will get him pic'ed. My next specimens should be at the LFS on tuesday.....hope you can I.D. those. Is there a definitive book on these things? thanks again for the info........Steve:dance:

 

[Gonodactylus]

Steve,

There is nothing up to date for the Western Atlantic. Ray Manning's classic "Stomatopod Crustacea of the Western Atlantic" was published in 1969 by the University of Miami Press. There are still occasional copies floating around on Ebay and Amazon.

There are two good books for the Indo-Pacific. Manning published "Stomatopod Crustacea of Vietnam: the legacy of Raoul Serene" in 1995. If you ever see a copy, snap it up. It has some beautiful water colors of Vietnamese stomatopods that were done for Serene in the 1930's .

The best work available right now is Shane Ahyong's "Revision of the Australian Stomatopod Crustaceans" published in 2000 by the Australian Museum. I deals with only Australian species, but has excellent keys to all of the higher taxa. It is the one book that I use daily.

Roy

 

[O'Coralman]

books

books

Roy....I will look for any of those I can locate. I am a big fan of watercolorings and can only imagine what those of Mantis would look like .........much obliged. Steve:dance: