Can you actually purchase a Mantis

MattL

New member
Long and wrongly considered a scourge on the aquarium, I figured you could no more order a Mantis than order Aiptasia or flatowrms. However, a local reefer recently caught on the size of his foot, and I was unable to travel to pick it up, so it went to the second guy in line. Not for my main tank, but for a new tank, I always wanted a MAntis. I'm sad I missed my opportunity. So my question is, I had to pass on this one, can I order one or buy one online?

Matt:cool:
 
Tampa Bay Saltwater

Tampa Bay Saltwater

Go to www.tampabaysaltwater.com and then go to Online Catalog. They have Mantis' for $8.95. Although they automatically add 8.00 for shipping charge. I've been told they sell Neogonodactylus Wennerae there. That's where I am going to order mine. Heres a pick of the mantis.
 
Thanks.

I actually visit that area frequently. I wonder if I could stop by, box it myself, and bring it on the airplane back home... Then again, what with the airlines and security these days, I'd best just pay the $8:rolleyes:

Matt:cool:
 
What a beautiful creature. I really want one, maybe for my desk at work.

How big of a tank would this guy need, at 3.5 to 5.5 inches in length? I know they require quite a bit of substrate.

Also, how often do you feed your Mantis?

The only experience I have with invertebrates are the ones in my main tank. My fish are fed daily, and what they don't get makes it to the bottom where any number of inverts might scavenge it. I feed my invertebrates directly three times a week. At least I offer them food three times a week. If they take it, great. If not, I just don't give it to them. My hallmark invertebrates, other than corals and anemones, are a serpent star, a cleaner shrimp, and a pistol shrimp. Would the feeding regularity of a Mantis be similar to one of these guys?

Matt:cool:
 
Also, evolutionary speaking, where do stomatopods fall? What is their closest relative?

Matt:cool:
 
Well I'm pretty sure they are classfifed like this:
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Crustacea
class:Malacostraca?
order: Hoplocarida?

I was looking at them in the Book Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life
they have very little on Mantis' but its info.
 
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