Sad day!

[Gonodactylus]

I usually don't get attached to my research animals and try not let their passing bother me, but today is an exception. This morning I found one of my large Lysiosquillina maculata dead. She had molted two days ago and seemed fine returning to her burrow with her mate. This pair was collected in Hawaii 12 years ago and have been living in my lab ever since. They were 28 cm long when collected and she was 28 cm when she died. She molted 3 or 4 times a year.

Kharn,

For your weight data, she was 386 g when she died.

The male is going to be so lonely!

Roy

 

[keithrett]

I'm so sorry to hear. My condolences.

 

[Kharn]

Sorry for your loss

WOW she was a big girl I mean didn't you say a while ago that a large male full grown O.scyllarus is just 88g this female L.mac is more then 4x the O.scy

Interesting....why do you think she never got larger then 28cm ?

I'm about to rebuild all my tanks (and some more...) in around a month, do you think it could have anything to do with the nature of the compartment design that they reside within ?

Do you think that this might be one animal that actually "grows to the size of the tank"..... ?

Just that I don't want to put any restrictions on my giant spearers and would like to see them at their largest....

What's your thoughts ?

Sorry for the loss again I know I am desperately seeking a female L.mac for my big guy...

 

[snorvich]

So sorry for your loss. My condolences.

 

[HPark]

Sorry for the loss. That's a great run though. You should be proud of your efforts.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Kharn,

I suspect that the pair never grew in the lab because we didn't feed them as much as they would normally eat. Lysiosquillina seem quite flexible with respect to growth. Probably because of their thin cuticle and burrowing lifestyle, they are programmed to molt frequently - at least 3 or 4 times a year. We have data showing that if they don't get enough to eat in the field, they metabolize body reserves and actually shrink when molting. In the lab in a closed aquarium we tried not to over-feed them. I know that they can eat a lot if provided fish ab libitum, but this really challenges the closed aquarium.

She was gravid which probably added some to her weight.

 

[Kharn]

Kharn,

I suspect that the pair never grew in the lab because we didn't feed them as much as they would normally eat. Lysiosquillina seem quite flexible with respect to growth. Probably because of their thin cuticle and burrowing lifestyle, they are programmed to molt frequently - at least 3 or 4 times a year. We have data showing that if they don't get enough to eat in the field, they metabolize body reserves and actually shrink when molting. In the lab in a closed aquarium we tried not to over-feed them. I know that they can eat a lot if provided fish ab libitum, but this really challenges the closed aquarium.

She was gravid which probably added some to her weight.

Thanks for the response

Your words are soaked up like a sponge to water!

I wonder then if 'my' feeding methods will promote 'full growth',... I was graciously donated a 40cm long eel recently, which perished before it could be offered to a large spearer (it climbed out of its tank overnight and dried on floor) so I never recorded anything of the encounter however what did surprise me is the food consumption rate to time since offered...

I gave my L.mac 20cms of the eel and within 24hrs he returned the spine to the surface fleshless...that's the most I have ever seen him eat that fast and yet when he came back up he was reacting towards more food offered...

My large spearers certainly do molt 'a lot' well it would seem more then 4times a year...Morgoth alone has grown TREMENDOUSLY since I first got her...I only wish I took down lengths back then to show the difference now...

Was the female ALSO wet upon weighing adding water weight too ?

 

[Gonodactylus]

I think the basic problem is that large Lysiosquillids will take all the fish they can get and store what they don't eat right away in their burrow. In the field, given the size of the burrow and the fact that the burrow is connected to the open ocean, rotting fish isn't much of a problem. However, for us keeping a large stomatopod in a relatively small burrow in a closed system, water quality becomes a real issue. In the 100 gal aquaria in which I keep each pair I just can't risk having three or four rotting fish in the burrow.

The female was damp, but I had blotted her with a paper towel so not much of the weight was water.

Roy

 

[MantisO_o]

:::sadness:::​