Black mantis shrimp?

C

critterlover

Premium Member
Do mantis shrimp come in solid black?

I think I have one that arrived on a piece of live rock covered in Recordia mushrooms. I had no idea what it might be, and ever since I saw it I've been hearing all these popping noises. I was thumbing through the forums and saw this forum on mantis shrimp and got to wondering if that's what it might be. So I did an ID picture search and it sure looks like that's what it is.....except it isn't colorful at all, just solid black.

Now I'm terrified of what kind of havoc it might wreck in my tank. How do I get it out? AHHHHH!!
 
There are only a few all back stomatopods. The most common to arrive in Indo-Pacific LR is Haptosquilla glyptocercus. They don't get much larger than 35 mm and really pose very little danger to the aquarium. They do not eat fish, rarely take large snails, and generally feed on very small prey.

Roy
 
Hmmmm, okay, this was kind of fun (my husband thinks I'm just bizarre).

After I posted my thread, I checked around the mantis forum a little and discovered someone who had taken the rock out of the tank and squirted seltzer at it to get it off.

So, I sat very quietly next to the tank and listened and waited. Suddenly I heard the loud POP POP that it makes. I zeroed in on where the noise was coming from and waited........THERE IT WAS!!! Buggy eyes poking out of the rock! And it was a rock right in front, easily removeable.

I gathered my tools. A bucket, gloves, my stepstool....and then - the lights went out. AHHHH, the frustration. I frantically tried to turn them back on. (MH don't just turn right back on!) I grabbed my flashlight, (all the while suffering the humiliation of laughter emenating from the direction of the lazy boy), and desperately shined it on the hiding place of this potential menace to my beloved reef.

Finally, the lights regained their strength. As I watched and waited to see if "it" had taken advantage of it's chance to disappear into the night I heard the POP POP again, and THERE IT WAS!!! I was saved....it hadn't moved.

I regrouped, donned my glove, and carefully, oh so carefully lifted the rock up and out of the tank and into my bucket. I sprinted to the kitchen. And there it was (gasping) in a hole it had drilled in the side of this large branch rock. Thinking quickly, I wondered if fresh water would work instead of seltzer. I quickly filled a turkey baster full of water. I grabbed a tupperware container from the cabinet and filled it with tank water. Slowly I lifted the rock and positioned it over the tupperware container, I took aim with my turkey baster, steady, steady, BLAST!!

Man, he came flying off there like a bat out of hell. PLOP, nosedived right into the tupperware container. In between my shouts for joy I became aware of an increase in the laughter roaring from that damn lazy boy.

I transferred him to a bowl (frequently used for breakfast cereal) for his celebrity photo session.

Well, enough of story time. Can anyone ID him? Okay, this is going to be more difficult than capturing my little monster. I've never uploaded a picture before. I have to figure this out. Next post will be a picture.
 
75821Downloaded_Pictures_182.jpg
 
Well, I hope that the bad press surrounding Mantis Shrimp doesn't cause you to kill the little guy. Just say the word (post, rather) and a dozen folks will be willing to pay for shipping, sometimes buying the monster as well.


Of course, a 10 gallon sump might be a good home for him...

They really are very fun to watch, quite fascinating, really.

:D


-Ron
 
I would never kill the little guy. I just don't know what to do with him. And, I don't want to put him back in the tank if he is harmful to it.

According to one reply he may not be. I did a search for that species and could find no pictures to compare him to for ID.

Can anyone else help me with a further ID?

What does he need to live? If I just put him in the 10 gallon tank I throw extra algae into will he be okay? There are tons of cope/amphipods in there.

Thanks.
 
O.K., I looked at the photo. It is not Haptosquilla. About all I can tell from the image is that it is in the family Gonodactylidae and it is not one of the common species being sold. You can rule out Neogonodactylus wennerae, Gonodactylus chiragra, G. smithii and Gonodactylaceus ternatensis. To make a better guess as to the species, it would help to know where the rock came from (Caribbean or Indo-Pacific) and what color the meral spots are (saddle shaped indentations on the top inside of the striking appendages.

Roy
 
man every one finds mantis shrimp so easy i have been looking for them for bout 4 months and i only got three chances. oh well tomorrow my dad is getting 100 pounds of LR hopefully we get one.
 
Yea Ill take a mantis off of someones hands if they dont want them too. I have just started to look for a mantis though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Free Mantis Shrimp
Replies
1
Views
201
griss
griss
Old Newbie
What size? What tank?
Replies
2
Views
555
griss
griss
P
Skimmer or No Skimmer in AIO 120 gl
Replies
5
Views
655
hvcreefer
hvcreefer
Brian60077
Great reasonably price light system
Replies
0
Views
408
Brian60077
Brian60077
jay505
Is STARS still an active club
Replies
3
Views
223
griss
griss
Back
Top