Mantis color : enviromentally caused?

[Python73]

Gonodactylus - I have a small (2") smasher from Florida rock. When he came he was a deep blue color with some color on his trim. After 2 months and several molts, he is solid bright lime green. I have him in a tank with three fist sized rocks and lots of caulerpa.

Is he green because of the tank or because he was naturally going to be green?

My friend has an almost identical one that I gave him, that also came from FL rock. He started out olive green / brown, and now he is more blueish. His tank is different, with less caulerpa and different lights.

I'd bet that they are the same species.

Any thoughts?

S !

 

[Gonodactylus]

Neogonodactylus wennerae from live rock cultured at 30 - 50 feet are usually dark or females can be rust colored. At this depth, there is little red light. When exposed to broad spectrum light similar to natural sun light that they would experience nearer the surface, they often turn green. Green habtiat such as provided by the Calurpa will facilitate this, but it is largely due to the change in lighting. There are several species that do this (Pseudosquilla ciliata, for one), but it is really dramatic in N. wennerae.

Roy

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I had a 75 gallon full of BRIGHT ORANGE baby Tomato clownfish that I raised- aprox. 200 baby fish. The population slowly dwindled after I added some live rock. When I discovered the plump mantis shrimp in the rock, take a guess what color it was?