Mantis Lovers

Scubadiva7

New member
I am new to this hobby and noticing people are interested in various things.. some people want SPS corals only other just fish etc. I am wondering what draws people to wanting a mantis tank.. Am I correct in saying that?
 
The VIOLENCE!!!! To me it relieves stress, I come home mad and drop an innocent crab in the tank just to watch him get the *** woopin of a life time!!
 
I find them fascinating. The way they hunt, the interaction, the personalities...or should I say mantisalities...

All of that comes together for me in a trememndously intriquing overall experience.

Of course, I feel the same way about my clownfish who checks out my arm every time I put it in the tank...
 
I like it because its different. It seems to be more of an interactive pet. You don't just throw in some flake food, you get a whole show.
They are so many types also, lots of colors and lots of personality.
Fish are cool, but to me, they don't beat the entertainment a mantis shrimp provides.
 
Their intelligence. You only need to see a mantis bang up a snail once, to see that they actually think about what they are doing.
 
Personally what caught me was their curiosity about the world around them, and how they interact with it. It displays incredible intelligence, and unique "mantisalities"
 
im a recently converted and plan on setting up a mantis tank soon and i have seen some videos on you tube and they just look so intelligent yet such violent beasts!! the perfect hunting machine!!!
 
Dr roy summed up a large part of why i love mantids. they are, to me, the ultimate example of evolution, aquatic or otherwise.

the ridiculously AMAZING eyesight, their intelligence, the way they stare right back at you, daring you to come closer, the lightning quick (second fastest on the planet last time i checked) lunging spear/smash attack (with the application of cavitation bubbles no less!)...
 
Hmm last I checked it was the fastest voluntary, as in non reflexive movement in the animal kingdom.. Fastest movement overall is the cnidarian nematocyst, but that is a natural reaction
 
What about the ant that closes its jaws really fast? (maybe it was the trapper ant?) it is faster I believe.

Anyways I'd have to say what pulled me in was the weird body shape the eyes, and especially the specialized and very powerful raptorial appendage, but once I got my P ciliata (lacking the rapts, of course....) I found myself amazed at the mastery of its environment. It controlled its environment more than most mammals. If it didn't like something in a particular place it was moved (or if it was too big, and it usually was, he grabbed it and kicked up one heck of a dust storm trying to move it). It even put some camo on its burrow entrance (chaeto). i miss the little guy

Dan
 
dan you have to understand that the mantis's strike is underwater, for it to strike that fast in such a dense enviroment is incredible

what got my interested in them is people think im crazy when i say i have a killer shrimp lol, no actually it was how strategic they are in hunting...

i watched my peacock once hunt a coral banded shrimp, the shrimp backed itself into a corner and my peacock went up to it and got a pinch from the claws and the peacock retreated back to her cave, i thought she was just being a wussy and running from it but as i watched more and the coral banded shrimp passed across the front of her cave she lunged out, held down the shrimp and ripped both of the claws off before actually getting face to face with it where she proceeded to kill it in one quick strike
 
Oh believe me, I understand that the speed that they get underwater is more than amazing. But that simply doesn't change the fact that fastest movement in the animal kingdom is that ant (I still need to check out the name of the ant) and not them. It is still an amazing speed though.

Dan
 
Dan,

Don't count out the stomatopods too quickly. The current speed record is held by the trap-jawed ants as reported by Sheila Patek. However, only two three stomatopods have been measured, L. maculata, G. chiragra and O. scyllarus - all in water. Also, these individuals were all large with massive appendages to accelerate. It is possible that smaller, lighter smashers filmed in air could be much faster.

Roy
 
Wow sometimes I forget how much science is still in its infancy. I would think we would at least have accurate data for one of the Neogonodactylids you've worked with so extensively in the past (I can't remember if it was N. oerstedii or N. bredini)

Dan
 
I know this sounds stupid, but how would you convince a mantis to strike in an environment where it can barely get O2
 
As long as the gills are wet, respiration is no problem for many stomatopods. I've seen Neogonodactylus bredini survive for over a day in a piece of LR setting on a dry counter top and many intertidal stomatopds go for several hours at low tide with the gills simply damp.

Roy
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10443637#post10443637 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gonodactylus
Dan,

Don't count out the stomatopods too quickly. The current speed record is held by the trap-jawed ants as reported by Sheila Patek. However, only two three stomatopods have been measured, L. maculata, G. chiragra and O. scyllarus - all in water. Also, these individuals were all large with massive appendages to accelerate. It is possible that smaller, lighter smashers filmed in air could be much faster.

Roy

I got to thinking about this and I am now wondering if striking in air could damage a stomatopod's raptoral appendages. Since they have evolved to deal with the density of water, I wonder if striking in air could tear the muscliture appart. Kind of like a baseball pitcher who puts too much torque into a throw and blows out his arm, or if you remember it, the Devil Ray's pitcher who through a fast ball only to have his forearm snap in half.
 
You are on top of it this morning. This does happen (rarely), but I have only seen it occur when a smasher struck in the air and didn't hit anything. The meral-carpal-propodal joints hyper-extended. I have also seen the appendages damaged when an animal struck too soon after a molt. Normally striking is inhibited when the cuticle is still "soft", but if the animal is trying to defend itself and strikes, it can lead to failure. The most extreme example if have seen was a small N. bredini that struck right after a molt and on raptorial appendage literally flew off.

Roy
 
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