Mantis ID please
- Thread starter venwu225
- Start date
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
The ID you received at GrimReefers was accurate given the information available in the photos. Short of having the animal in hand, the best identification would be Haptosquilla, probably in the stoliurus group. There are several species in this group, mostly from the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean. These animals tend to stay in their cavities and rarely venture out.
Roy
Roy
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
There are two books that are particularly useful for identifying Indo-Pacific stomatopods. The most up to date is Shane Ahyong's "Revision of the Australian Stomatopod Crustacea" published as Supplement 26 to the Records of the Australian Museum. (2001). I purchased my copy directly from the Australian Museum. It wasn't cheap.
The second book is Raymond B. Manning's "Stomatopod Crustacea of Vietnam: The Legacy of Raoul Serene." It was published in 1995 in Crustacean Research, Special Number 4. This is a publication of The Carcinological Society of Japan. It is a beautiful volume that contains several color plates of watercolor illustrations prepared for Serene by Vietnamese artists. I have no idea how you would purchase this issue. I was given a copy by Dr. Manning when he was still alive.
There is nothing comparable for the Atlantic although there are several keys published by Manning, Camp and others. Manning's 1969 "Stomatopod Crustacea of the Western Atlantic" published as Studies in Tropical Oceanography No. 8 by the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Miami, is dated, but still very useful. I bought a replacement copy a few years ago by contacting the Institute of Marine Sciences directly.
I would generally have to say that the most interesting stomatopods are the ones I'm studying at the time. That said, I do have a particular liking for the smaller species of Odontodactylus (O. brevirostris, O. havanensis, O. latirostris and O. cultrifer) as well as for Echinosquilla guerinii. The odontodactlylids are some of the most alert and interactive of all stomatopods with incredible communiction systems. E. guerinii with its sea urchin mimicking telson gold reflecting eyes is just plain weird!
Roy
The second book is Raymond B. Manning's "Stomatopod Crustacea of Vietnam: The Legacy of Raoul Serene." It was published in 1995 in Crustacean Research, Special Number 4. This is a publication of The Carcinological Society of Japan. It is a beautiful volume that contains several color plates of watercolor illustrations prepared for Serene by Vietnamese artists. I have no idea how you would purchase this issue. I was given a copy by Dr. Manning when he was still alive.
There is nothing comparable for the Atlantic although there are several keys published by Manning, Camp and others. Manning's 1969 "Stomatopod Crustacea of the Western Atlantic" published as Studies in Tropical Oceanography No. 8 by the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Miami, is dated, but still very useful. I bought a replacement copy a few years ago by contacting the Institute of Marine Sciences directly.
I would generally have to say that the most interesting stomatopods are the ones I'm studying at the time. That said, I do have a particular liking for the smaller species of Odontodactylus (O. brevirostris, O. havanensis, O. latirostris and O. cultrifer) as well as for Echinosquilla guerinii. The odontodactlylids are some of the most alert and interactive of all stomatopods with incredible communiction systems. E. guerinii with its sea urchin mimicking telson gold reflecting eyes is just plain weird!
Roy
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