can I help save this mantis?

[T-T-Trigger]

I found a great specimen today, and the shop is very reputable, said they had him for two months. I bought him and told him I had to drive an hour with it, so they gave me a slightly larger back and filled with oxygen. After about 40 min. he started thumping around pretty good in there but I did not think much of it because my last one thumped in the bag a bit too.

Anyway, when I removed it from the outer bag and went to float the bag with him in it he looked dead. I immediately put him in the nearest container to get him out of there and get some good water mixed into his shipping water, I did a fairly quick acclimation to get him into the tank as fast as possible, but he does not seem to be recovering he was on his back for awhile, flapping his little (don't know they are called, ciliae?) he would occasionally change postion and repeat the behavior - looking lethargic in the extreme.

It has been about 1:45 since he went in and he is still alive, but his movement is less, and he has yet to even attempt to seek out full body shelter (his head is now in a shaded hole, but that is all).


Can I do anything else???!?


...during acclimation

...now on his side, looking near death

 

[T-T-Trigger]

normally I don't freak because I have been doing this long enough and usually know what to expect, but these creatures are unfamiliar to me...

... so ipso facto...

...i'm freakin'!


I'll post any updates as they become available, thanks for looking,
-Chris

 

[T-T-Trigger]

well, I can't say exactly what would have caused his problems, but after about 4 hours he started to react to his surroundings, so I felt better.

At the approx. 5.5 hour mark I was feeding fresh clams to my trigger, so I cut off a small piece and placed the feeding stick near his head, and he grabbed at it quite meekly. After his third attempt he finally got it off the stick, then rested for awhile, then slowly started to eat - always a great sign.

It is now the 7.5 hour mark and I just returned home to find that he had moved! He is now near the back of the tank quite busy building a burrow for himself - I am so relieved and very ecstatic that this wonderful specimen appears to be pulling through.


here he is, finally active, even though I got no replies I know you were all sending positive thoughts his way...

 

[opihi]

Chris,
glad your newest acquisition is looking better. so this is the 2nd mantis in like 2 weeks. do i sense a change to M-M-Mantis?

GL to you and the new guy.

j

 

[T-T-Trigger]

what can I say??? Ever since I got the smaller one I couldn't stop thinking about the large one down at TP. I said to myself that if they still had it, I would get it.

they still had it...

i got it...

and that's that!

 

[Gonodactylus]

Strange. Gonodactylus chiragra is one of the most hearty stomatopods out there. Nothing in your description of transport suggests that there should be a problem. With oxygen, these guys can go two or three days.

Recently I have been seeing quite a few reports of Gonodactylus chiragra showing up for sale. This happens occasionally when lots of orders hit Indonesia for peacocks. Collectors can come up with a dozen or so G. chiragra an hour and they can do it walking a reef flat - no need for SCUBA. (Actually, it is usually their kids who collect them.)

Price-wise, G. chiragra should be selling for a quarter or less of what O. scyllarus are bringing.

Roy

 

[T-T-Trigger]

Roy,

Does this look like a G. Chiragra as well?? I thought that it looked quite different from the specimen I got two and a half weeks ago that you id'd for me


My camera is not great, but this one has baby blue striking arms, orange/red coloration between the scales on it's back, a set of about 5 spikes on it's rear-end, and it's head scale is extremely striated in pattern,

all those are differences from the chiragra, so I was assuming it is a different specimen?

Thanks for your time, I really look forward to learning as much as I can about these creatures.

-Chris

 

[Gonodactylus]

Chris,

G. chiragra is quite variable in color depending on habitat. It is also sexually color dimorphic. Without being able to see the telson which is generally the most reliable structure to help key out a species of gonodactylid, I relied on background color. My mistake.

I looked at the photos again and I think in one I see a yellow or orange meral spot which makes this a species of Gonodactylaceus. My guess would be G. falcatus which is a much less hardy species than G. chiragra.