Gonodactylaceus ternatensis???

[surfnvb7]

i got a new mantis shrimp that i'm pretty happy about.

he's a good 3-4", and is a nice dark blue color, very pretty. and has a great personality and very outgoing. i haven't seen him attack any inverts yet, but he's still settling down.

i'm pretty sure he is a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis, but on Roy's webpage it shows/says the species is primarily a dark green.....but this guy does have green, but its primarily a dark blue color.

The teslons, uropods, merel spot, and the red/orange stripes along the dorsal side all look identical to the description of the species provided.

i'm happy to have him, b/c he was living in a little 1g pico cube for the past year or two at a LFS. now he's in a 10g tank all to himself...

what do ya'll think?

 

[Pea-brain]

Amazing color. I'm jealus I'd immagine that strange color morphs like that happen. I wouldn't complain

Dan

 

[surfnvb7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10847438#post10847438 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pea-brain
Amazing color. I'm jealus I'd immagine that strange color morphs like that happen. I wouldn't complain

Dan

definitely not complaining!

only reason i ask about identifying the species, is the size aspect.....b/c Roy states that ternatensis species can get up to 120mm (~5inches), thats getting up into peacock mantis sizes.....meaning bigger tanks and stronger glass.

 

[Pea-brain]

Them getting that big is on the rare side. While it does happen, I wouldn't worry. If you believe your mantis needs more room, get it a bigger tank, but according to Dr. Roy a ten gallon is fine for most (I think the record for this species is about 7" )

Dan

 

[Angel7989]

Very cool looking mantis

 

[ck1]

wow, amazing colors.
Did the LFS have it up for sale? Or did they just agree to sell it? Wow, can't believe they had it for that long a time. The mantis probably can't believe his luck right now- 10x bigger home- it would be like winning the Mantis Lotto.
Lucky find! If I found one that beautiful- I would HAVE to consider setting up another tank just to house it.

Julie

 

[surfnvb7]

they kept it in a little pico tank on their desk behind the counter for quite a while, it was caught from a larger tank.

they recently moved to a bigger store, and one of the employees mentioned it to me and i had no clue they had him before.

sounded like the little pico tank on the counter was just taking up space, and they wanted to get rid of it.

but apparently others have offered to buy the mantis, but they wouldnt sell b/c they wanted to make sure it went to a "good" home.

the employee knew i had kept mantis's before, so they offered him up to me, and i'm glad they did. this may be my favorite one yet!

i have had a 1.5" Smithii since March, and he rarely ever comes out of his rock. half the time, he has the cave entrance blocked with a shell, the other half the time he just sticks his eyes out. kinda boring....

 

[StephenInVa]

Awesome mantis... Where'd ya get him?

And do you lose brownie points with the hokies by having a mantis wearing hoo colors? Tell me you named him wahoowa!?

 

[surfnvb7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10850612#post10850612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StephenInVa
Awesome mantis... Where'd ya get him?

And do you lose brownie points with the hokies by having a mantis wearing hoo colors? Tell me you named him wahoowa!?

got him at Atlantis in Richmond.

its already bad enough that i'm a VT alumn living in Charlottesville....lol

 

[StephenInVa]

LOL! I bet. I'd pick on ya because I'm a hoo fan. But I feel sorry enough for you living in cville with all the yuppies.

 

[dragonforce]

A very nice male G tern. I have a female G tern whos about 3 inches right now. I like her the best out of the 2 others who are a male and female g smithii

 

[zooqi]

Now you got me thinking about getting another one. Last one I gave to a friend and he does not know what happened to it. Just make sure you watch your fingers or your hand will look like this

 

[Gonodactylus]

The largest G. ternatensis I have seen was a male from Indonesia that was 124 mm - 5 inches in total length. It also had a bluish cast. A bluish hue also develops sometimes in gonodactylids that have been keep for some time in captivity.

Very large male G. t are prone to developing shell disease and I have had difficulty keeping them for more than a few months.

Roy

 

[Shekki]

Great color on that one.