New Mantis

[dwculp]

I captured a Mantis shrimp in my 40 gallon reef tank, he came in on the second half of my TBS package, threw him into my QT tank. Thought some people might like to see some pics:

 

[dwculp]

Another picture of "Ned"

 

[opihi]

very cool

are you planning to keep "Ned"? they're fascinating creatures.

 

[dwculp]

Yes I am, I will probably keep him in the 29 gallon QT for quite some time, I am not sure exactly where to move him. I dont want him in the reef and in my 75 gallon DO tank with a lion and panther grouper he would be what is commonly refered to as "food"!!! Therefore he stays in the 29 gallon QT.

The tanks are in my classroom and I have received a lot of comments today:

"Mr. Culp! There's an ALIEN in the tank!!"

"Mr. Culp! There's a cockroach in the tank!!"

"Mr. Culp! There's a..........there's a.......there's a........um...something is in the tank!!"

 

[opihi]

being a N. Wenn, you can put him in a nano, freeing up your QT.

wonder what your kids' comments will be when they see it smack a couple of snails?

 

[dwculp]

Whats the max size on these things?

 

[opihi]

n. wennerae don't get very large. i don't have the specific number, but i'm thinking they don't get larger than 3".

 

[goblinsharkman]

that may not be a N. wenn

PS: N. wenn arent the only mantis species from Florida, they are just common because they live in the site were TBS drops their rock

 

[dwculp]

that may not be a N. wenn

PS: N. wenn arent the only mantis species from Florida, they are just common because they live in the site were TBS drops their rock

Any way to tell for sure what I have?

 

[MadTownMax]

get a clear picture of the tail

 

[Gonodactylus]

The picture of the telson is clear enough. It is definitely a Neogonodactylus wennerae. There are only two stomatopods from the Caribbean with a telson like yours, N. wennerae and N. bredini.

Roy

 

[Gonodactylus]

And I suppose now someone is going to ask how to tell N. bredini and N. wennerae apart. The answer is that I can't without sequencing their mitochondrial DNA.

 

[sdm]

they get 6-7cm.

 

[dwculp]

they get 6-7cm.

Not as big as I had hoped, that means he is nearly max size.

 

[Ms. K]

Very cool! I keep a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis in a 10 gallon tank in my classroom. His name is Mike Tyson, and the kids absolutely love him! It's great to see the reaction if they hear a pop. The room falls silent and every head turns to the back of the classroom, wide eyed and wonderous!