Mantis ID Please

[potzy]

I heard this little guy a little while back but was not entirely sure until I a spotted him clicking away in a dark hole. I've named him Mike T after Mike Tyson, because he is little and packs a serious punch.

Now I'm not sure if I want to keep him. He would be maybe 1.5 inches long. I think he has made quick work of many snails and crabs. The aquarium consists of 7 largish compared to him fish and many soft corals. What threat would he pose?

How big would he grow?

Cheers in advance.

 

[justinl]

at 1.5 inches almost no threat at all imo. Just make sure all your frags are glued down tight to LR that he can't move.

I can't tell what species he is from the pic so i can't say how big he'll get.

 

[potzy]

Thanks Justin, I'll try and take a better photo, but he is such a hard bugger to photograph in that hole.

 

[DanInSD]

Mike Tyson is little????

If you don't mind the decrease in snail population, I don't think he'll do any harm. If he was a "big" species (O. scyllarus, G. ternatensis, etc), you'd probably know about it by now -- they grow beyond 1.5" pretty quickly.

I recommend getting a small number of larger (i.e. turbo-type) snails -- the smaller mantis species might take an occasional whack but won't do any real damage.

For photography, find someone with a good flash, an SLR with a macro lens, and patience. Just sit there, bait if necessary (a few hermits crawling around outside the hole would work fine), and snap when the critter makes an appearance.

Have fun,
Dan

 

[DanInSD]

Oh, by the way -- there's a little blue spot showing immediately to the right of the mantis. If this is part of the legs, that's telltale of a small number of Haptosquilla species -- see Roy's List. If so, you're golden, they are small and shy.

Dan

 

[potzy]

Thanks Dan, greatly appreciated. And yes he does have plenty of blue on his legs so that is a relief. I'll check Roy's list.

Ok..... Mike T because he is short and wide but not small.