Hi to all , Mantis ID needed.

[kinani]

Hello all , i just happened to come across this site in my search for more info on a Mantis i aquired , it came from sum guy who found it in his tank and banished it into the sump , he then took it to the lfs to see if they wanted it and they knew i was after one so i got it

Only downfall is i have searched around for simillar looking mantis , so i can ID it , but so far with no luck.

Now the other problem im having is getting a picture ov it lol , this thing moves with lightening speed , and has taken up refuge in a crevice in a piece ov LR , the mantis itself is a smasher , its about an inch to an inch and half , its colour is like ermm a dark golden brown / bronze , with whiteish specks/lines dotted around its body , i hope to get a picture asap so i can post it for you guys/girls to look over and hopefully maybe sum one can ID it for me.

thanx geoff.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Geoff,

When you are looking at it head on, try to get a look at the meral spots, the saddle shaped depressions on the inside of the raptorial appendages. Also, try to see if there is any color on the first maxillipeds. There are the appendages that the animals use to clean themselves and in some species they have a brilliant blue spot on each one. Also, if you get any pictures, try for the tail.

These small gonodactylids can be a bear to ID, but with the meral spots and telso shape, I can usually make a good guess.

Roy

 

[kinani]

Hi Roy,


Well im sat here with a digital camera on remote lead sat in front ov the tank trying to get a few pics ov the mantis , so far all i can manage to get is a few front on pics , This Mantis refuses to budge more than half an inch from its hole hehehehe.

As for the meral spots and maxilliped colour i cannot tell as it wont venture out far enough for me to see, I have fed it the last few days by hand and he/she is more than willing to take/eat food from my fingers.

I will attach a few pics that i have managed to get upto now , if its still hard to ID im going to try bait it out far enough to get a better shot.


thanx for the reply geoff.

 

[kinani]

Hi ,


I take it that pic is ov no use to identify the Mantis ?
Anybody ? have any wild guesses ?

I will try for a better shot , see if i can get more ov him/her on the pic.


thnx geoff.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I can't figure it out. In fact, from this I'm not even sure it is a stomatopod.

Roy

 

[kinani]

Hi Roy ,


Well im no expert but im 100% sure its definetly a mantis or its identical to a mantis , i know the pic is a bit ov a struggle to decipher , i will have a go at flushing it from the rock so i can bag it and get a better shot


thnx geoff.

 

[kinani]

hmmmm,


well i tried the rock outa water hung over saltwater no avail , i then tried the freshwater dip for like 5 mins still no mantis . Now im not sure if i killed it with the freshwater or not eeeeek.

I did notice about 100 pods and brittle stars float out ov the rock dead

 

[kinani]

Hi There ,


Well the mantis is still alive phewww after all that i had to resort to cuttin away his hole with sum cutters and enlarging the hole , and in the end he made a bolt for it into the tank and i whipped he/she out for a photo session

I will post all pics theres about 6 or 7 hopefully then i can maybe get a positive id and hopefully some basic husbandry for this species

thnx in advance geoff .

 

[kinani]

another

 

[kinani]

and another

 

[kinani]

last one hope sum one can ID it for me .

 

[kinani]

tail shot .

 

[kinani]

Head on , sorry for all the pics , just want to make sure theres enough evidence for a positive ID thnx.

 

[kinani]

Hi all ,


Any expert knowledge would be greatly accepted on the identification ov this species.

Roy u seem to be the man who can , any ideas ?


thnx geoff.

 

[dc]

Did you catch the color of the Merel spots? That's what Dr. Roy was wanting. Here's mine and you can see they are maroon with a white ring. That's where you need to look.

 

[kinani]

Hi There ,


Im afraid getting a pic ov its merel spot is nigh on impossible , this mantis does not/will not come out ov his lair , he/she protrudes about 10-20mm if that and bcoz he/she is so dark its hard to see anything . And its in a 30 gallon sump at the moment in a piece ov LR thats sat halfway in , so its hard to see at the best ov times

 

[Gonodactylus]

Forget the meral spot pictures. What I really need is a better shot of the telson. From what I can see, this appears to be a male Haptosquilla glyptocercus. This is a common shallow water species that gets to a maximum size of about 40 mm. They are fairly color polymorphic, but females are typically darker (almost black). These are tough stomatopods. They can live in a very small aquarium (a liter or less) and survive for years. I still have a couple that I collected on Lizard Island in 1998.

The characteristic feature that identifies this species is a very crennulated telson. Rather than the typical teeth and denticles, the telso looks like a topographical mate of twin mountains. They use this heavy armor to effict other stomatopods from their cavities by forcing their way in tail first.

Roy

 

[kinani]

Hi Roy ,


I will see if i can get a more detailed shot ov the telson , if it is the Haptosquilla glyptocercus , then any idea wot i should feed it on or wot it will feed on. I spose at 40mm its no threat to turbo snails or hermits unless they are very small .

thanx once again geoff.

 

[RogueCorps]

Lizard Island? Is that Australia Dr. Roy? Do you know the origin of the rock Kinani?

Interesting to see yet another species...

-Rogue

 

[Gonodactylus]

Rogue,

Lizard Island is indeed in Northern Queensland about 200 miles north of Cairns. It is the site of the Lizard Island Research Station - my favorite place to study stomatopods. To date I have recorded over 20 species from this location and abundances can be quite high - three or four per square meter. I have been working there since 1986 and in fact will return this November for another go. It is funny how some places can weave a spell. There is no place on earth that I would rather be than a mile long stretch of white sand beach protected by Lizard Head.

To give you some idea of the power of the place, whenever I have a dive physical scheduled and I'm a bit worried that my blood pressure might be a bit too high, I close my eyes and picture myself walking Coconut Beach reef flat looking for Gonodactylus chiragra, G. platysoma, G. smithii, Gonodactylaceus mutatus, Haptosquilla glyptocercus, H. trispinosa, Chorisquilla trigibbosa, Taku, Pseudosquilla ciliata, Gonodactyllelus annularis, G. caldwelli, G. affinis and several other species of stomatopods. It drops my pressure 10-15 points every time.

Just thinking about it, I can't wait to get back.

Roy