Can a spearer kill a crab ??

[vapester]

...I recently got a 3 inch yellow spearer. I gave it my 55 gallon tank with a deep sandbed. It was a workhorse it's first week making burrows throughout the entire tank. The only others in the tank are a small pajama cardinal and a 1 1/2 inch local crab i caught. I've seen the mantis kinda scare the crab off a couple times but it's still there. Just wondering, without the clubs of a smasher, can a spearer kill or defend itself against crabs and such??

 

[Pea-brain]

I've heard they will get behind the crab and spear it in the underside. BUt I've only heard of that from one person. Then again it was 2 diff. mantises who did it, so I dunno

Dan

 

[DanInSD]

Spearers eat shrimp all of the time. If the crab is relatively small, I would assume it could be eaten.

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

It depends on the size of the crab and the size of the mantis. My Maculata will kill and eat emeralds of good size. It will hit and kill it like a smasher ,with the front of it's raps and then pick out the goods. But he won't touch a snail or hermit unless it is too close to his burrow.

 

[justinl]

yellow spearer = P. ciliata. just in case you were curious as to the species.

anywho, for now i think the crab is too big to be killed (half the mantis' size) by a spearer. but eventually i think the mantis will toast it.

on a side note, P. ciliata (well all spearers actually) are piscivorous. ie. that cardinal may be in a bit of danger.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...acostraca/royslist/species.php?name=p_ciliata

 

[Conductive]

I had an emerald crab roughly the same size as my p.ciliata end up dead after a time. it may have been due to natural causes, but i suspect my mantis just didn't enjoy the company. even without smashing appendages, i think that spearers can kill a hard target, if not open it up.

 

[vapester]

.....i put calcium in there a week ago and the crab molted the same day and got a tad bigger. Maybe he'll get beat down eventually....I hope he does anyway. As for the cardinal, I thought he'd be toast by now, i've been feeding the mantis well enough though. I'll try and take a pic....

 

[mattyice]

with it being a P. Ciliata its only a matter of time before he gets ****ed off enough to attack the crab and cardinal, P. Ciliata's were once smashers so they are very aggressive and will smash prey with the heel of their appendage