got hammered today!!!

Fcamdog

New member
Well, I once thought my 40g was devoid of mantis shrimp. After a feeding of live brine shrimp I realized that there actually was a mantis in my tank, in fact, there were two. While cleaning my tank today I reached in to straighten a piece of rock the way I wanted it. I guess one of the mantis wanted it the way it was so he nailed my finger. It hurts bad!!! I am a one handed typist for a couple of days. I tried getting the little ******* but he got away. I'm lucky, it looks like a big needle ***** that teared a bit. It's a good thing Philippine are little guys, get to a max of about 4".
 
It only hurts for a little while - usually!

It only hurts for a little while - usually!

I handle stomatopods every day in our lab and when I'm in the field it is not uncommon to measure and sex 150 animals in an evening. Needless to say, I'm struck fairly often. Some species are far worse than others, but it usually hurts. Even a 2 cm Gonodactylus can draw blood and a 4 cm animal can drive the dactyl tips to the bone. Aside from a two inch slice in my hand made by a large lysiosquillid (by the uropod spine, not the dactyl), the most severe injury I have incurred was from a 7 cm Gonodactylus chiragra that drove its dactyl into the joint of my index finger and the tip broke off. It took some minor surgery to remove it. But that is nothing compared to what happen to a diver from South Africa who wrote me a few years ago describing his attempt to grab by hand an 18 cm Odontodactylus. The animal severely injured his finger which became infected by a chiton-digesting bacteria. The infection did not respond to the usual antibiotics. In the end, they amputated the finger. Be careful out there! Roy
 
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