Newbie question

[luvabunny]

My 16 yr old son bought a mantis, tank and all. It did very well for some time, until he realized the salinity was far too high, and adjusted it far too quickly. Since the mantis died, he has kept the tank up and running, and it should be ready for another mantis, but here in landlocked Okla, they are very hard to find.

Now my LFS has a mantis they have had for quite awhile. I have known about it, but didn't tell my son because I thought the price was too high. After visiting yesterday, the owner let me know he would like to sell it, and dropped the price. My son is very interested.

My question to you all is concerning it's health. I have no idea what species it is, but it is approx 2" long. It has been housed, the entire time the LFS has had it, in a plastic floating breeder, on the top of the water, very close to the lights, with nothing to hide in. This mantis is pure WHITE, and has been since the first time I saw it which was over 3 months ago. Is this normal? I've been reading the boards since my son got his first mantis, and I've never seen anything about a white one. I'm simply afraid that the mantis may be terribly stressed, need badly to molt or may even be diseased. What do you guys think? Depending on your answers, we may or may not go get it.

Thanks for your help.
April

 

[Gonodactylus]

There are white species of stomatopod and some species that will turn near white if maintained as you describe. Several months in bright light with a restricted diet on a clear or white background can produce these extremely faded animals. In my experience, they rarely return to their natural colors.

Roy

 

[luvabunny]

It may very well be that it is a white species, I was just afraid the "bleached" look may have been due to disease or very high stress levels which would ultimately lead to it's death.

I have alot of respect for this particular LFS. He is very knowledgeable, and I'm sure the tank this mantis is in has perfect params. Actually, there is so much coralline algae growth around the container that it is difficult to see the shrimp well. Are there any specific signs I should look for in regards to disease, malnutrition, or otherwise unhealthiness?

All in all, I think the shrimp is very pretty, and neither my son nor I would be unhappy if it stayed white, if that is the color it should be. The tank it will be going into has black sand with larger coral pieces in it. If it is healthy, it will be interesting to watch to see if it stays white.

 

[nine9d]

Well, IMO, they should have not kept the mantis in that type of condition. Imagine being kept in a container for 3 months with limited view and possibly just enough room to turn around. Now they may feed him and all, but why don't you just save him already. Just because the tank parameters are correct, does not mean he is happy.

 

[luvabunny]

No 9d, I'm sure the mantis isn't happy being in that container, but I'm not altogether sure a fish knows the difference between a container that size, or a 5 gal tank, or even a 50 gal tank. It's still not the great, broad ocean they came from.
My concern came directly from the fact that he was not being housed properly. I still don't know if there are any specific signs I should look for which would point out any stress, disease, or unhealthiness. As my son is off school today, we are going to make a trek to go see this mantis, and will probably bring it home.
Hopefully, the mantis is a species which is supposed to be white, and it is otherwise healthy. As sad as the fact is, I cannot "save" every marine critter which may be unhappy, but I think we are going to give it a shot with this one. Thanks for your help.

 

[rwhhunt]

If you get him, lets see some pics!

 

[luvabunny]

We did end up getting the mantis, and found that it was not completely white after all. There are blue-ish dots along the side of it's body, which was part of what made me nervous about it's health in the first place.

Overall, the mantis would probably be called white, but it does have sandy color stripes across it's back. If my efforts for the past 45 minutes haven't been in vain, there should be a couple of pics to follow. If you can make an ID from these, I would appreciate knowing, also if you can tell male/female. If there is another view which would make it easier, please let me know and I'll try to comply. Thanks for all of the help.

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One thing I will have to say regarding how he was housed recently. It has made him very unafraid of people, and as a result, he is out and about quite often. It makes watching him much more interesting.

 

[Hutton]

he is a beauty! congradulations! what size tank is he in?

 

[luvabunny]

It's a 7 gal, with retrofitted lights and a HOB filter. Obviously I was wrong when I said it would be on black sand. That is my son's other nano which houses an orange pistol shrimp. My mistake.
The LFS owner said he has been feeding him 1 shrimp pellet per week. To me that sound majorly underfed. I know there are a couple of surviving small blue leg hermits in the tank with him, but so far I haven't heard any bashing going on. Of course, yesterday was Thanksgiving, so I didn't really take the time to check the welfare of the hermits.
Any guesses on species?

 

[Hutton]

looks like a gonodactyul species. i cant tell because of the white...
try look at the sticky on top of the mantis forum.

 

[rwhhunt]

NO idea of the species, but very unique looking! I would bump up his or her feeding schedule to at least every other day, maybe some vitamin enriched frozen krill or scallops would be a good starter... If it is already being brave and not afraid of humans, the more interaction with feeding it the better! I sometimes feel like I could hand feed my large peacock (although I doubt I will ever try it!!...)

 

[rwhhunt]

luvabunny: for ID purposes, try to get a good look at or a pic of the meral spots (the patches of color on the inside of the raptorial appendage), these aid significantly in IDing it

 

[ReefGeekster]

Congrats on your mantis rescue :thumbsup: I use a stainless steel hemostat to feed my mantis. Using a small piece of raw prawn or silverside every other day. I try to interact with mine as much as possible. Like yours mine was housed in a small plastic container for 3-4 months. It is a 4-5" O.S. and was originally $39.99 though after months of being there I got it for $15. She resides in a acrylic 20L now.

 

[luvabunny]

Actually, there are no meral spots on the inside of the raptorial appendages. The best I can tell, it's bashers are absolutely, pristine white. If there are spots there, they are white too.

The hermits made it thru without becoming Thanksgiving dinner.
So far, the only thing I can tell it has eaten is yet another shrimp pellet, but we're going to try some frozen mysis tonight.

Approx how big does a gonodactyul species get? Should we start making plans for a larger tank, or will the 7 gal suffice? I'll try looking at the sticky at the top, but to be perfectly honest, except for coloration, all of these critter look alike to me.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and kind words. I don't think the little beggar really knows what to do with himself, now he has an actual tank, with sand to dig in, hermits to bash, and rocks to hide under.

 

[Uriel]

Present him with either a bit of thawed seafood or a snail. That should get him/her up and around, and back to a more healthy diet.

A 7 gallon should be fine, as it is obviously not an O. scyllarus, a G. tern or any of the other larger mantis.
Most of my mantis are in 6 gallon Eclipse tanks, and doing fine.


-Ron

 

[Hutton]

they usualy get to about 3 inches. the 7 gallon is plenty og room! i too keep mine in an eclipse six because of the arcrilic.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Gonodactylus platysoma

Roy

 

[luvabunny]

Thank you everyone for your help, and Dr. Roy for an ID.
Is this species supposed to be white, or is it just washed out?
So far, so good. It seems to be very happy and busy in it's new digs.

 

[luvabunny]

Went to Dr. Roy's list and answered my own questions.
Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[ReefGeekster]

So I guess instead of calling it white you can refer to it as cream....
Glad it's doing well sounds like you and your son will have a lot of interesting and fun time taking care of the critter.

Have a name for him/her yet? like maybe Whip;