Photos Finally - ID please

[lemures-ex]

I've had the fella for months now and I finally got around to snapping some photos.

I was never very sure which mantis it is. I think G. Graphurus but I'm not sure. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[lemures-ex]

BTW, it molted once and went through a pretty drastic color change. It was in a LFS for months because a customer brought it in and this specific LFS has no lighting! The colors were really dull and after the molt they were much brighter.

Size: ~5cm
Living in a 5gal until I finish building my compartmentalised display tank. Then it'll have about 15-20gal of room in a ~100gal system.

Eats anything I throw in the tank: Hermits, damsels, mysis, krill, seaweed, pill bugs (a very cheap source of food and entertainment for my puffer as well), earthworms, sea snails (only smallish ones. There is a big turbo doing fine in there), and anything else edible really...

How do I sex this fella?

 

[lemures-ex]

I was bored so I took some better photos. The last ones only took about 2 seconds

I finally got it to turn around so I could get a shot of the telson. Should help with ID.

I shined a flashlight in his burrow and he told me to kiss his telson!

 

[Altpers0na-old]

you fed it earthworms?

 

[Timmy]

G. graphurus has orange meral spots and this animal has white meral spots. I think it is a N. wennerae.

 

[lemures-ex]

AltpersOna: He loves eartworms. Only fed a couple so far but they sure didn't last long.

Timmy: N. Wennerae does make more sense. It's so different from Dr. Roy's photos that it's hard to tell but that was my second guess along with N. Bredini, which seems to be much less common.

 

[Gonodactylus]

It is either a Neogonodactylus wennerae or bredini. If it came from Tampa Bay or other locations in Florida, it is probably N. wennerae. The two species are difficult to tell apart except by molecular techniques.

Roy

 

[Titan*69]

Nice pics!

 

[lemures-ex]

Dr. Roy: I assume it's more likely that it's N. wennerae? Are there any common personality difference between N. wennerae and N. bredini?

Titan: Thanks! I am actually a photographer above all else though I don't have too much experience photographing fish/tanks. I did have some really nice photos from Monterey Bay Aquarium and Aquarium of the Pacific... Until my hard drive melted (literally).

 

[Gonodactylus]

G. bredini thens to live more shallow, but I Don't notice much difference in the way they behave.

Roy