Mantis ID please :)

[happybeany]

I've had this little guy for a few months now, he hasn't grown and is at approx 6cm. He's gorgeous, quite shy and happy to dig in the sand for all he's worth. I rarely see him but had to take him out of his cave today to move the live rock around... can someone ID him for me? I can't quite match him to anything on Roys List!

 

[Kharn]

interesting looking species, def not a common G.smithii

 

[happybeany]

Yeah, I can't figure it out! The uropods look similar to o. japonicus, but the size and mottled green doesn't really fit?!

 

[Timmy]

I think it is a G. chiragra.

 

[happybeany]

If it wasn't for the uropods I would completely agree !

 

[TundraGuy]

No joke interesting coloration. One for the Doc to id for sure I thought chiragra. But not sure. I like and want it.

 

[gnasher]

I second G. Chiragra

 

[Timmy]

Looks very similar to this animal.

G. chiragra

 

[Gonodactylus]

Gonodactylus chiragra

 

[happybeany]

Thanks everyone. Any ideas on gender? I'm guessing since the colouration is quite pale that it's a female? Either way, s/he is beautiful and I love it! I got her as a hitchhiker on some live rock

 

[TundraGuy]

Take a pix from the underside and we can tell you.

Hey Timmy is that animal in the pix still alive?

Doc your the man. Where is this color combination found? I like it alot and may set up a tank to try and duplicate its coloration.

 

[gnasher]

My chiragra looks much like the one Timmy posted, but not so beat up. Nice green body and red legs. There's also one at the LFS near me that's colored more like happybeany's. Both female.

I don't know where mine came from, but she's pretty much stayed the same color over the year and two molts I've had her. Maybe she used to be a little more brown and now more green. The tank she lives in is not very well lit and has a lot of green in it.

 

[happybeany]

They're really beautiful. I like having female mantis (there are far too many boys in my house, I'm outnumbered lol)

 

[gnasher]

She's so tiny too! Have fun watching her grow. When she gets bigger she'll be a real bruiser. They're one of the harder hitters and need to exercise their smashers to avoid atrophy. Make sure she's got some snails and hermits to wail on wherever you keep her.

Mine is super shy as well. If you want to see more of yours, you might want to try setting up a video camera when you leave the house. I did this and was surprised to see how active mine is when I'm away. I wouldn't be surprised if she recognized the sound of the garage door as a sign of my leaving because on active days, she takes a few trips out and about within the first 20 minutes. When I'm home, I pretty much just get stared down from the burrow.