Mantis ID

[Islandoftiki]

Hey folks, I've had this little guy for about six months now. He lives in a small tank that is dedicated to saltwater pests and invasive species. You name it, if people wished they never had it in their tanks, I put it in this one. Majanos, Aiptasia, clove polyps, xenia, yellow colony polyps, GSP, invasive and ugly palythoa and zoanthids. The list goes on.

So, living in the tank is my wonderful little mantis (some consider them pests, we know different). Cute as a button and highly entertaining. You gotta love these guys.

So my best guess has always been that he's a G. Viridis that is extremely dark in color. His shell looks jet black. When I first got him, he had almost no markings. After a molt or two, he's starting to develop some white spots on the inside of his raptorial appendages. He has some very faint pattern markings on his back that look like that of G. Viridis, and the shape of his telson is also similar to G. Viridis. However, I've never been 100% sure, so I'm going to put it out for the experts...

Anyhow, I've compiled several videos and have a few pictures that may help. He's extremely difficult to photograph because he never sits still or is always in his den, so the videos may be of more help.

1st Video... Full body shot. Hard to see Telson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0obR34cdPWU&hd=1

2nd Video... Feeding time, full under body shot. Telson visible at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjeKrbAX8UM&hd=1

3rd Video... Compilation video. Several different views, plus he spreads apart his raptorial appendages in one so you can see the markings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoZDdyOBoZ4&hd=1


I would appreciate any input you might have on his ID.

Thanks!

John

 

[Islandoftiki]

Any thoughts? The thing that's throwing me is his color. I would say G. Viridis if he had any indication of green coloration, but he's absolutely jet black. The pictures on Roy's list of G. Viridis show one that's really dark in color. Almost black. There are only a few small ones that list black as a color. He's definitely not Haptosquilla glyptocercus; his telson is wrong for that.

Can anybody think of something I should be looking for specifically to narrow it down? I'm pretty sure he's full grown at about 2".

 

[Adetia]

Looks just like my old N Wennerae

 

[Islandoftiki]

Was yours that dark in color?

I guess it could be an extremely dark N. Wennerae or even a N. Bredini.

His meral spots appear to be white. There is a lot of white mottling on the insides of his raptorial appendages.

 

[Adetia]

Yup, she was a really deep purple color (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19090375&postcount=29)

They have a lot of different color morphs so trying to identify purely on color. It could be a N Bredini as well though as the 2 are hard to tell apart: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...costraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_wennerae

 

[Gonodactylus]

My best guess without knowing where he came from is G. viridis. I base that on the fleck of red color on the anterior edge of the meral spot.

Roy

 

[Islandoftiki]

Thank you for your assessment, Dr. Caldwell. I guess my initial identification was probably correct. Some of these little smashers can be a little challenging to identify.

Regardless, he's a cool little bugger. He seems so tiny now that I have a G. Ternatensis who really makes him seem much smaller.

For those who are interested, this little guy has been part of a pico reef tank competition on the Nano-Reef forum. I was planning to build my old 2 gallon Fluval Spec reef tank into a pest tank filled with all manner of things you would never want in an expensive coral reef tank when this competition came along, so I joined up. All of the corals and anemones were donations from local reefers and local fish stores in my area. Including this little mantis who was a hitchhiker in some live rock. He was saved from a flush down the toilet by the LFS who knew I was building a pest tank and gave him to me to add to the project.

Anyhow, the competition recently came to an end and I expect the judges will have their final verdict after the big Reef-A-Palooza even that many of them are busy preparing for right now.

Here's the full tank build thread (All 15 pages of it). This tank is a favorite to win. Of course, the ultimate prize in the end was an amazing reef tank that is the center of attention whenever guests come over.