gholland
New member
I mentioned these two items in another thread, but wanted to let as many people know as might be interested... the guys at http://www.stomatopod.com have just uploaded more mantis shrimp and all of the previous specimens are now available for purchase. I haven't purchased anything yet, but I have emailed them and they seem very nice and knowledgeable, listing species, size, sex, and specific physical status of each specimen. Good for those of us without a lfs that stocks mantis shrimp!
Also, in my other post I proposed the idea of putting together a photo archive of the specific anatomical details that so many of us ask or hear about when trying to identify our unknown stomatopods. Dr. Roy has enlighted so many of us at one time or another and his site is by far the best reference out there, but we can't expect him to do it all! I was thinking of something along the lines of a photographic "key" that would supplement his pages with multiple images of distinguishing physical characteristics such as eyes, meral spots, antennules, telsons, red lines, and all those obscure anatomical terms that give people like myself (with no formal biological education) such a headache! I expect that many of us could contribute (and benefit from) those hard-won photos of our personal pets and the guys at stomatopod.com have also expressed an interest in possibly helping out. They probably have more "reference material" than the rest of us combined (excluding Dr. Roy that is!).
Thoughts?
Also, in my other post I proposed the idea of putting together a photo archive of the specific anatomical details that so many of us ask or hear about when trying to identify our unknown stomatopods. Dr. Roy has enlighted so many of us at one time or another and his site is by far the best reference out there, but we can't expect him to do it all! I was thinking of something along the lines of a photographic "key" that would supplement his pages with multiple images of distinguishing physical characteristics such as eyes, meral spots, antennules, telsons, red lines, and all those obscure anatomical terms that give people like myself (with no formal biological education) such a headache! I expect that many of us could contribute (and benefit from) those hard-won photos of our personal pets and the guys at stomatopod.com have also expressed an interest in possibly helping out. They probably have more "reference material" than the rest of us combined (excluding Dr. Roy that is!).
Thoughts?
