G Smithii

[Ehudd]

Well after 1 year of my loss i am back with keeping mantis shrimp.
I previously onwed and bred G Smithii. Succesfull breed once, managed to keep one alive although died after 3 months. Well the boy died, then 1 month after my female layed a clutch of eggs and also died.
But I am now decided i am going at it once again. Maybe not breeding, but I own a Male G Smithii as of 2 hours ago.

Also a question, i had my female for 4 years, she grew to around 12 cm. Do they all grow this large? i read that sadly they do not...
Ne one with Experience feel free to add, i will be upating to tell the progress, i will soon have pics to!!!

 

[justinl]

Are you sure it was a G. smithii? they definitely do not usually get that big. most max out at 80mm. Did you ever successfully raise any of the larvae?

can't wait for pics of your new guy!

 

[Ehudd]

Yes after reading the facts the Doc wrote i was amazed...
Mine was very large for a G Smithii. It deffinatly was.
I managed to rear 1. But for some reason when i started to see some progess and some colour up it just died... sad moment. Tomorrow i will take some photos. He has already killed 2 hermits!! he is alot more destructive than my previous ones, which did not get the thrill/treat to bash animals as i just fed White bait... hmm maybe that was the success of her abnormal growth. I dont know. The one i own now look exactly like 'TIM' the super mantis.

Also, a name... hmmm i was thinking like Sir Cedric!!

 

[Pea-brain]

quite possibly a G. ternatensis. It has red lines, correct?

 

[justinl]

snithii CAN have red lines too though. mine does. the meral spot is a better ID feature.

 

[Pea-brain]

I know. But it got bigger than most smithii's and had red lines. I'm not saying that smithii doesn't have red lines, but ternatensis gets bigger than smithii AND has red lines.....BTW Ehudd what foods did the larvae accept? I'm interested in breeding mantises and larval food seems to be the biggest problem....

 

[Ehudd]

Both my mantis shrimp were in a 20gal.
After a week the mother let them go and i took both of the Adults out. From their onwards they lived on whatever was on the LR. I did put baby brine in there when i could. I didnt try very hard to rear them. 1 managed to live, i am thinking it ate alot of the others. it got to around 1.5 - 2 cms and suddenly died. Dont know why. But yeah thats the only story i got. I didnt try make them breed, and i didnt try rear the young. 1 managed to Survive and i didnt do much. Sorry lol, dont really have Info for you, it just happened.

i thought it could have been a G. ternatensis but after 1 moult it was very clear.

 

[Ehudd]

Wow.... just noticed something.
I am browsing over roys list, and have now noticed that the Male did not actually have the bright meral spots and the Smithii...
It was blue in Colour just like the G ternatensis.... Can they cross breed?

 

[Pea-brain]

I would say that cross breeding is possible (keep in mind I don't know too too much about genetics) between gonodactylids of the same genus, but I doubt they would willingly partake in attempts, and the children would most likely die from complications of some sort and probably wouldn't be viable.

 

[Ehudd]

Well thats the thing they all did die....
Bare with me while i get some pics ready, for some reason the pixels on my camera were being dodgy but its still alright

 

[Ehudd]

Unfortunatly i cannot post pictures.... why would they not have the Jpeg Extension? seems to be easiest.. Lol i dont know how to do ne others.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Let me add some figures that might help sort this out.

1. The largest Gonodactylus smithii ever reported was 90 mm. I have collected thousands of them and have never seen one over 86 mm.

2. The largest Gonodactylaceus ternatensis in the literature is an 87 mm male that I collected in Phuket. However, a few years ago I received a 124 mm male from Bali and I have since since G. t over 100 mm.

3. Both G.t. and G.s can have red intersegmental lines. G. t always do, they are uncommon in G. smithii.

4. Male G.t have blue antennal scales and uropods; females have yellow-green - similar to G. smithii of both sexes. The orange meral spot of G.t and purple spot of G. smithii are diagnostic.

5. G. t and G. s cannot successfully interbreed. They are different genera.

6. Eggs of both species take 3 weeks to hatch and the larvae remain with the female for another week. They then become planktonic and probably settle after 1 to 2 months at about 8-9 mm. They will be transparent (slightly greeish) for about two weeks after settling and then will assume a dark adult body color. To reach 15 mm will take about 3 months. To reach 2 cm would take at least 6-9 months.

7. Females can store viable sperm as long as they don't molt. I have had females lay fertilized eggs after 5 months without mating.

Roy

 

[Ehudd]

thanks for all the info.
Then what type of mantis did i have?
maybe there was a previous "small" mantis in my LR i discovered...
hmm u know alot i do not question ne thing you say, it just seems this is a freak case then. Cos i speak no word of a lie.

 

[Gonodactylus]

If I had to guess, I would say that the small juvenile was a stow-away. I have one 15 mm juvenile that has been in the lab for two years. If they don't have a lot to eat, they grow very slowly.

Roy

 

[Ehudd]

another question, sorry guys!!
My old Smithii was active the first day i got her. She was out and about. Do they all vary from how active they are?
I haqve noticed he is looking a bit blotchy... maybe he is about to molt?
Opinions would be nice