Dr. Roy Caldwell Q & A #6: Pseudosquilla ciliata (spearer)

moviegeek

Premium Member
(Originally sent to ScottL aka Gilsboy63@aol.com by Dr. Roy Caldwell)

The species is Pseudosquilla ciliata. It is a spearer, is very common world wide (except the west coast of the Americas) and is probably the best stomatopod to be able to match the color of its background. The yellow is
fairly common. In fact, I have one in my lab right now. More common are greens and browns, often with stripes down the back. If you put the animal in a live reef tank with a fair amount of brown and green, it will change after a molt or two. This species lives in burrows that it digs (like O.
scyllarus) and occurs from intertidal to at least 40 m. Perhaps its strangest behavioral feature is that the males are coy and the females are sexually very aggressive often "raping" the males. They do well in tanks, but are death on small fish.

Roy
 
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