spearer id?

[ISFRAEL]

i got a new spearer last night and im hoping someone can id it for me.
it 1 1/2 inch long, its completely pale yellow (semi-transperant) and i cant see any visible signs of a pattern. im guessing it from the great barrier reef as all the mantis i get here in australia are from there.
anyone got any ideas?

 

[Gonodactylus]

You need to give us more than just the color. What is the shape of the eyes? How many spines on the dactyl? Does the telson end in two terminal movable spines.

My guess without any really reason to say so is that it is a juvenile Pseudosquilla ciliata.

Roy

 

[Ananda]

for the neophytes among us...

for the neophytes among us...

I'm not exactly certain where the dactyl is. It isn't labeled on J. Taylor's drawing, which is the only one I've found online (www.blueboard.com/mantis/intro/what.htm). Dictionary.com lists dactyl as "finger; toe; digit". Is it the part of the -- raptorial appendage? -- that is the most obvious difference between spearers and smashers? If it's only part of that, could you label it on the photo?

Are there any books that have good info on mantis shrimp?

 

[Jared Cooper]

Does it look like this?

 

[Jared Cooper]

OOPs I mean like this:

 

[Gonodactylus]

The animal pictured above is Pseudosquilla ciliata.

The dactylus is the last segment of the raptorial appendage, the one with the spines. Smashers (except Odontodactylus) have no spines on the dactyl. Spearers have from 3 to 19, depending on the species.

Roy

 

[ISFRAEL]

its the same coluor as the pic above.
it has a black spot on the last pair of those little legs behind the dactyl.
i will have to look at its eyes tonight and get back to you.

it is digging a very large burrow under some liverock and it was found in some liverock, so im starting to think its a smasher that has lost his dactyls?

i cant really see any spearing dactyls unless he has them really tucked against his body but he definetely hasnt got smashers.
they arent as clearly visible as the ones on the pic above.

he wont defend his home like my other smasher, he just backs up into his home but he is very bold at feeding time.

i dont know what else to tell you?
i will have to try and work out a way to have a better look at his/her dactyls but its very hard as its so small and is still building its burrow so he doesnt come out much.

 

[Gonodactylus]

The dactyls are folded so tightly into the next to the last segment (propodus) that you usualy can't see the spines at all. When you get a look at the eyes, see if they are cylindrical with a sort of checkerboard pattern on them. That is typical of P. ciliata.

Roy.

 

[ISFRAEL]

it had its first molt this week and its definetely a smasher that had lost its clubbers. it has changed from yellow to a light blue with aqua coloured appendages. very weird. it has a new set of small smashers now.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Juvenile Odontodactylus scyllarus have a yellow body. There are also some Neogonodactylus that can be yellow to orange. I have found it fairly common that some collectors/shippers cut off the dactyls so that animals don't fight or puncture the shipping bags. I refuse to purchase from any supplier to provides animals where this has been done deliberately.

Roy

 

[ISFRAEL]

the dactyl's definetely werent cut off as all the mantis i get are freebies from my mate at the aquarium store. if he finds them on live rock, he calls and I collect them.
they dont actually sell them of the shelf as no one but me has ever asked for them. mantis are unfortunately still considered a reef pest, not a pet.

i was just amazed at the complete colour change from sandy yellow/ mustardy to blue with aqua appendages.
i notice a slight darkening/ lightening of my mantis but never anything so drastic a change.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I've seen P.ciliata change from yellow to green in a single molt and some gonodactylids go from orange to brown mottle, so I guess it is possible.

Roy