ID please

[ReefMagic]

I don't have a picture yet of him. He is a orange/red color with a black/grayish stripe going down his back he is a smasher, and about 1 inch long. He is in a 2g and I'm going to use water changes using my reefwater. if he looks bad i'll put him in the reef in a little breeer section. Thanks!

 

[Gonodactylus]

From this description, I don't have a clue. Let me know when you get a picture and I will give it a shot.

Roy

 

[ReefMagic]

Well. i'm an idiot its not a black stripe its his insides i think. hes just red a smasher, i cant get a clear shot of the meral spots, and I cant get a clear picture either. my camera doesnt do well with small critters.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I was going to suggest that the stripe was the gut, but there are stomatopods that also have longitudinal stripes, so I thought that I would wait for the photo. If it came from the Caribbean or Florida, it is probably Neogonodactylus wennerae. If it is from the Indo-Pacific, all bets are off. THere are at least a dozen small, red gonodactylids. Can you see how spiny the telson (tail) is? Is there a faint white or cream colored line that extends across the tail fan?

ROy

 

[ReefMagic]

Wow, he was p/oed when I move his home his tail is pretty spiny. it was all displayed out for some reason and he has alot of spines on it. I have no idea where it came from. I didnt see any white on his tail.

 

[Gonodactylus]

There are a group of small, spiny-tailed gonodactyloids in the genus Chorisquilla that are often orange or red and usually show the gut as a stripe. They are common in Indo-Pacific live rock and rare exceed 30 mm. My guess is that you have one of these. If you ever get a photo, I may be able to confirm this.

Roy

 

[ReefMagic]

WEll Heres how it is: my mom has a digital camera that i use, I can only ge the pictures if she downloads them to her computer then emails them to me. and her computer got a surge and isnt working today, so it may take a while to show u a pic of him. But thanks for the kinda ID

 

[ReefMagic]

Well Roy, Does this mantis have a specific weakness that some others don't that I should know about? he eluded my little breeder thing in my 72g and he made a little home out in the open, I guess he's fine right now since he is the smallest critter in the tank and my peppermints aren't afraid, they soon will be though . What does this mantis prefer to eat? Thanks

One other thing... how do i tell male from female? Just wondering.

 

[Gonodactylus]

If it is what I think it is, it won't grown much larger and it will take months for it to get even a few millimeters longer. THese animals eat very small prey, tiny snails, crabs, amphipods,etc. They offen pick macroplankton out of the water column, so brine shrimp would work. You could probably even get it to eat flakes or small pellets of food for carnivorour fish. Small pieces of krill will also work.

Food items probably should not be any larger than a B-B.

Roy