Herbert T. Kornfeld
In Memoriam
Aqua Exhibits on 3rd St.
Peacock M. for 79.99?
- Thread starter Retzius
- Start date
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
What on earth is a bumble bee spearer? Some people are really creative trying to market animals. To my knowledge, there is no stomatopod called a bumble bee (although there are small striped shrimp called this). From my experience, when people start putting common names on stomatopods, run for the nearest exit. They are trying to jack up the price.
Aside from local names such as split thumb and split toe or Alacran del Mar (sorry for the poor Spanish), to my knowledge, the only stompatopod with an accepted common name is Odontodactylus scyllarus. It is usually called the peacock, clown or Harlequin manits. In one tropical invertebrate guide a few years ago, the format called for common names for all the animals, so the authors created some for the stomatopds. Pseudosquilla ciliata became the rainbow manitis, Gonodactylellus viridis the green mantis, etc.
This is one reason that you will notice that in my posts I try to use the scientific names. They are just as easy to remember and there is only one per species.
Roy
Aside from local names such as split thumb and split toe or Alacran del Mar (sorry for the poor Spanish), to my knowledge, the only stompatopod with an accepted common name is Odontodactylus scyllarus. It is usually called the peacock, clown or Harlequin manits. In one tropical invertebrate guide a few years ago, the format called for common names for all the animals, so the authors created some for the stomatopds. Pseudosquilla ciliata became the rainbow manitis, Gonodactylellus viridis the green mantis, etc.
This is one reason that you will notice that in my posts I try to use the scientific names. They are just as easy to remember and there is only one per species.
Roy
Herbert T. Kornfeld
In Memoriam
I posted a pic a while back of what was IDed as a Lysiosquillina maculata I believe. For sure Lysiosquillina. But they have black and yellow bands all along their body and are spearers. The ones thet I usually see come in at over 6".
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
Most Lysiosquillids that are offered for sale are Lysiosquillina maculata. This species is common from Hawaii and the Galapagos to East Africa and is intertidal so it is relatively easy to collect. Also, males will occasionally come to night lights and are occasionally taken in this way. There is quite a bit of color variation, but they always have transverse stripes ranging from cream and tan to yellow and very dark brown. They start breeding at around 6 inches, so this is when males start looking for mates and are caught. They pair for life and can reach 15 inches total length. One of the easiest ways to tell this species is by the white spots or speckles on the peanut shaped eyes. A few other species of lysiosquillid have this, but they are smaller and rarely show up for sale. The only common names I have seen attached to L. maculata are zebra and striped mantis shrimp.
While I'm rambling on about lysiosquillids, if anyone ever sees a large orange or red one come in from Indonesia, please give me a shout. This could be L. lisa or L. mapia which to my knowledge have not been kept in aquaria even though they are often photographed by divers. In fact, only a couple of L. mapia have ever been collected and preserved.
Roy
While I'm rambling on about lysiosquillids, if anyone ever sees a large orange or red one come in from Indonesia, please give me a shout. This could be L. lisa or L. mapia which to my knowledge have not been kept in aquaria even though they are often photographed by divers. In fact, only a couple of L. mapia have ever been collected and preserved.
Roy
Herbert T. Kornfeld
In Memoriam
Would you be looking for anything from Lizard Island? I will be going there soon and although I know getting things out of there is difficult, if I were to collect "in the name of science" it might be a bit easier....unless of course you know someone there already...being that it is your forte and all...Otherwise I am trying to get a dive trip together for Tahiti and Marshall Islands...but that will be after Lizard.
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
Thanks, but I have Lizard Island covered. I have been working there off and on since 1986 and just spent 3 months on the island. I will be at UC Berkeley's marine lab on Moorea this fall teaching a class, so that is covered as well. The Marshall Islands are interesting. I did some of my early work on stomatopods on Enewetok. There are tons of G. platysoma, Haptosquilla glyptocercus, G. smithii, etc.
Roy
Roy
majestic sea life
New member
maybe its a zebra mantis they kinda look like one lol
Aqua Exhibits in brew town always has their mantis marked at $50 in my experience. i think the maculata i bought was labeled a "zebra mantis." they also keep them in sad living conditions - a bare cube where you can see them curled up in a corner. the least they could do is stick a bit of PVC in there for 'em 
i mentioned to one of the people working there that their peacock was riddled with shell rot and she gave me a deer in the headlights look....
for what it's worth, H. maculata don't make nearly as good a pet as an O. S. they are basically "pet holes."
i mentioned to one of the people working there that their peacock was riddled with shell rot and she gave me a deer in the headlights look....for what it's worth, H. maculata don't make nearly as good a pet as an O. S. they are basically "pet holes."
Herbert T. Kornfeld
In Memoriam
LOL. Aqua Exhibits has been pricing all the mantis I see at $30-40. I have never seen higher. Yeah, it is kind of a sad ship these days. It used to be a great place to get critters at least, but these days my buddies and I refer to it as the 'bait shop'. The owner is getting ready to give it up, living down in florida for the past year...andf since it's been under new ownership it's been getting worse and worse. But, once and a while, they come through...like large octos and mantis shrimp. I agree that the OSs make better pets...much 'smarter' looking.
i've only been there 3 or 4 times because i live up near green bay but i try to stop by when i'm in the area. i saw an octo there last time i was there which was cool cuz i've never seen one in a shop before. i can't imagine that it'd last long there, tho, so hopefully someone who knows how to keep them picked it up... i'd really like to get an O.S. again one of these days but i don't really have the time or the room for another setup.
on a somewhat related note, i like stopping at hoffer's, too, but their prices are coockoo for cocoa puffs!
on a somewhat related note, i like stopping at hoffer's, too, but their prices are coockoo for cocoa puffs!
Herbert T. Kornfeld
In Memoriam
Hoffers actually isnt that bad. Yes, in general, they charge $300 for an eheim pump as their freshwater and equipment is well, just outaline! But their reef critters are pretty reasonable. Sure, I could get the same for a few bucks less at PET WORLD, but everything I get from there either gets ick or dies (getting ick is a good sign for fish when it comes from that place...most fish just see the cleaner shrimp and are fine in a week) The cost of a 6-line wrasse was $24...not too bad IMO. Their cost on neon gobies was $20...ok, thats getting high, as I often have seen them for half...but hey...Ive seen worse. Now, if there was only a LFS that could keep corals alive for more than a month! Man, I just got back from Atlanta...visited Cappucino Bay Aquarium....WOW. That place is very nice. I actually bought a couple frags from there and brought them home in a water thermos...they were that rare and at a good price! Oh, well, just rambling. Yeah, that OCTO was neat. I had the opportunity to get an octo a few months ago from a friend who got one in on his LR. I actually read up on keeping the bugger...and now he has grown to 3x his beginning size...I hope the big one that was at the 'bait shop' got as good. Chances are that it got out of it's cube and died on the floor...or wandered into the shark tank! But, they are a good place for getting mantis...you can even request certain types and they will get them. They usually have at least two large ones in season...sometimes a smaller bright green or warnerii (<<<yeah, I forget the spelling), sometimes a spearer, and always a peacock.
majestic sea life
New member
my lfs are crazy 120.00 for a 1'' bubble coral 250.00 for one head from a hammer coral and 35.00 for a neon goby
