I have a bunch of baby Mantis

[SaCe]

About a month in a half ago, my Mantis was carrying around a sac of eggs. I had no idea she had even been bred. Anyway, she took the sac of eggs in her den and nurtured them until they hatched. Once they hatched I had a tremendous amount of baby mantis. Several of them (probably a LOT more than I see) have started growing up. I have a few that are about the size of lead on a newly sharpened pencil. They are doing well and have found holes of their own in the live rock.

I have a couple questions about this.

1. Was she pregnant when I found her and isolated her to her own tank?

2. Do they self impregnate, if a mate is not around?

3. Will she eat the young? So far she doesn't seem too interested. (I do feed every day or every other day)

4. I do not want a huge colony of Mantis in an 18 gal tank. What could I put in there to eat some of them before they grow up? I'm thinking Hermet Crabs, But I don't want my mother Mantis to eat the Hermet Crabs.

Any suggestions on what you would do?

 

[dank11]

Hey!
I'm really not sure what will happen
I'm sure the little ones won't eat the mother
If you could get them to grow a little
There are some peopel interested in them (Me)
Maybe You could catch them now when they're really small
and ship them out ?

 

[jpg]

Ill take a few also.

 

[Gonodactylus]

What species is she?

I doubt that you have postlarval stomatopods. I do not know of a single case where O. scyllarus or N. wennerae larvae have survived more than a few days in an aquarium after going planktonic. For gonodactylids, they are planktonic for at least a month before settling and while we don't know how long O. scyllarus stay in the plankton, it is probably much longer.

To ansnwer your questions, females must mate to reproduce. They can store sperm for a few months, but not across a molt.

 

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

the female prolly tossed the eggs and now you just have a mysid shrimp population...

 

[SaCe]

Hmm, I appreciate the responses. Thank you.

I do not know the technical name for this Mantis, but I know she is a smasher. She was pretty ugly when I first discovered her and a plain brown color. As she has grown, she has gotten prettier. She is turning greenish. Either that, or I'm more fond of her now so she just seems prettier to me. )

I do believe she molted before hatching the eggs. I didn't actually see the molt, but she went into hiding for a good week once and I swear she seemed larger when she came out.

I don't know what to think now, and can't quite rule out that I don't have baby Mantis because these little critters run in and out of the holes in the rocks and basically attack food that drops near them (I feed a variety of things). They also have taken the shape of the female Mantis. Everything about their appearance and mannerism makes me think they are Mantis. *shrug*

I guess time will tell. I guess if they are Mantis I won't have to worry about keeping them under control as they will attack and kill eachother eventually????

I will try to get a better picture of the female who laid the eggs. I have a couple pictures, but they turned out blurry. She is difficult to photograph because she has become more shy as she has gotten older.

 

[Gonodactylus]

The animal you describe is almost certainly Neogonodactylus wennerae. The animals live in cultured live rock off Florida and typically are brown when brought up. In bright, full spectrum lighting they often turn green. This usually takes one or two molts. It cannot happen without at least one molt.

Adults will hole up for a week to 10 days when molting. Females brooding eggs usually stay fairly secretive and rarely feed. This takes three weeks for the eggs to hatch and another week with the larvae until they become photopositive and enter the plankton.

I think the chances are 99.999% that you do not have baby N. wennerae, but even if you do, it is nothing to worry about for a couple of years.

Roy

 

[SaCe]

Gonodactylus, I believe you are correct about the identity of my Mantis. The picture's I've seen look pretty close. What makes me even more positive is the fact that some of the Live Rock in my tank came from the ocean off of Florida.

I bought my tank last spring from a friend who gathered up some of the Live Rock on a diving trip she went on in Florida last year. (BTW, I don't care much for this particular Live Rock). I know she did it to save $$, but I just don't care for the looks of it)

When I discovered the Mantis, I asked her about it and she told me she had already flushed a couple of them when she owned the tank. The one I found, I didn't have the heart to flush so I gave her a home of her own. I'm glad I did. I do hope I don't find another one in my main tank some day. I have a feeling I won't now, but never say never.

If you don't think I have baby Mantis, what could they be? They are very similar in appearance and the female/mother/adult Mantis doesn't seem to anxious to kill them.

I guess what I'm wondering is, if they aren't baby Mantis, could I be harvesting these things for food for my main tank. My Mandarin would probably love to eat these things.

The thing is, if they are baby Mantis I'd hate to have them hide long enough to grow up and do damage to my main tank livestock.

 

[Gonodactylus]

My first guess would be amphipods, but there are are lots of small crustaceans that can establish themselves in aquaria. I see no reason not to harvest them - even if they are stomatopods. My blue-rings are given stomatopods on a regular basis.

Roy

 

[SaCe]

Gonodactylus, I certainly appreciate your opinion. I ran a search, and found this page...
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/amphigal.html

I would say you are correct. These particular Amphipod's are what I appear to have...
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/mov456i.html

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/mov150i.html

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/mov480i.html

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/mov370i.html

With the picture of the first one, most common and why I was thinking they were baby Mantis.

I wonder why my Mantis doesn't seem interested in eating them? Although, maybe he is and there are just so many he just eats at his leisure. My Mantis is especially fond of eating frozen Krill.

Also, since these Amphipod's are so fast and small, what is the easiest way to harvest them? I'm sure my main tank stock would love to munch these things.

I'm thinking I could maybe take a piece of Live Rock out of the Mantis Tank and put it in the main tank for awhile???

Finally, If you would like you can see some of the older pictures I have of my Mantis and where it lives, take a look at my gallery of pictures. I need to take some current pictures.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Many stomatopods develop very strong feeding preferences and they are not quick to change. I've seen a gonodactylid go for a couple of weeks refusing to eat frozen shrimp when it was being given fish. Then, after it finally switched to shrimp, it would not take fish. Also, they will often only take what is easiest - or at least what gives them the most bang for their buck. Offer an O. scyllarus its choice of shrimp meat, a think shelled clam or a snail and after awhile, they will take the items in that order.

Roy

 

[SaCe]

Good to know, thanks!

Do you think it would be safe to put a hunk of rock (minus the adult female Mantis, obviously) in the main tank for my fish to pick at for the amphipod's? I'm sure my Mandarin would especially be grateful for the added treat. What'dya think?

Also, since my Mantis has a preference for Krill, would you think it would be safe to say I could take a chance at putting a small damsel or hermit crab in it's tank with her?

 

[Ms. K]

I have kept hermits (blue leg and red leg) in with my mantis G. ternatensis for a while now. He doesn't bother them at all. Of course, each individual is different, but mine is lazy. He doesn't generally hunt down food. He just takes it if it smacks him in the face.

 

[Freed]

My blue-rings are given stomatopods on a regular basis.

Roy

How many blue rings do you have and how long have you had them? Aren't you nervous around them if you have to do anything in the tank?