Mantis ID and tank question

[Wheeldog63]

Hello, I am looking at aquiring a mantis from an indiviual and am looking for a good tank for it. Here is a picture of the specimen. I am unsure the species and would love for an ID.

I have been told he is about 4" and a smasher. I have a few options on tanks, first off is a 2.5 mini-bow, I am 99% sure this'll be to small, the second option I have is a drilled 10 gal. Just standard tank. The other option I am looking at is a 5 gal min-bow or a 5 eclipse hex. Filtration will not be an issue, as this will be plumbed into a large system. Thanks in advance for any info.

~Kelly

 

[jchough79]

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[T-T-Trigger]

for a 4" smasher, I believe anything under 10g will be too small. 10-20g is more like what you need. And if you want to be more careful about chipped or cracked glass, 20g would be the best size because of the thicker glass - and room for the mantis to move freely.

My 4" G.ternatensis is in a 20g and it needs every inch of it.

 

[crafty_50mitchell]

Pretty sure thats a Gonadactylas Chiragra.
Brian

 

[Gonodactylus]

It may not be a Gonodactylus chiragra. It doesn't look quite right to me. My guess is that it is from Indonesia or Thailand and it could be Gondactylellus viridis. However, I would have to see the telson and perhaps the meral spots to make a certain ID.

In this identification, size is important. You report that it is 4 inches - a little over 10 cm. There are very few gonodactylids that get that large. In fact the only one that I have seen are a couple of rare specimens of Gonodactylaecus ternatensis. G. chiragra comes close with very large individuals coming in at 9 - 9.5 cm and the largest ever recorded at 10.2 cm. G. viridis usually does not exceed 6 cm.

Stomatopods are measured for description from the tip of the eyes to the the tip of the telson. We do not include the antennules or stretch out the raptorial appendages. I would guess that the animal in the photo is closer to three inches.

Roy

 

[Wheeldog63]

Thanks Roy, anymore comments on tank suggestions??? Thanks

~Kelly