Stomatopod facts?

[nonpareilpearl]

I am in the process of compiling a list of "easy to remember" facts (think bullet-point style, ~100-120 characters or less) for a page I'm making for my mantis tank. Here are a few I have to start:

• Mantis shrimps are of the order Stomatopoda.
• There are ~400 species of mantis shrimps (stomatopoda).
• Dr. Roy Caldwell (PhD) has been studying stomatopods for over 30 years at UC Berkeley! See more info here: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/aquarius/index.html

I'm trying to make the list as long as possible so I can cycle through/update the list. Does anyone have any ideas for some more?

 

[Islandoftiki]

Here's one that doesn't often make it into the fact sheets, but I have learned from experience...

Every mantis shrimp has it's own personality. Similar species can have notably different behavioral characteristics.

 

[Gonodactylus]

A couple of corrections.

There are over 500 described species of stomatopods.

I started studying stomatopods in Bermuda in 1965 while a graduate student at the University of Iowa. I took a faculty position at U.C. Berkeley in 1970 where I have been ever since.

Roy

 

[TundraGuy]

48 years of stomatopod studys and counting!
*bows chanting "We'er not worthy. We'er not worthy!"*
Thank you for all your help and understanding.

 

[Calappidae]

A couple of corrections.

There are over 500 described species of stomatopods.

I started studying stomatopods in Bermuda in 1965 while a graduate student at the University of Iowa. I took a faculty position at U.C. Berkeley in 1970 where I have been ever since.

Roy

48 years wow! I'm curious how many stomatopods have you owned and researched? :spin1:

 

[Gonodactylus]

A conservative estimate would be around two hundred thousand stomatopods captured and logged. I know that during our population study and the subsequent follow-up study of the Galeta Oil Spill in Panama we logged over 120,000 animals. Most field trips involve the collection of around 500 to a thousand animals and we typically have made two or three trips a year. Throw in three years of sabbatical where I collected several thousand animals each year and the figures add up. These estimates don't include the relatively few animals that I get from commercial sources. Any way you look at it, it amounts to a lot of stuck fingers!

Roy

 

[Calappidae]

A conservative estimate would be around two hundred thousand stomatopods captured and logged. I know that during our population study and the subsequent follow-up study of the Galeta Oil Spill in Panama we logged over 120,000 animals. Most field trips involve the collection of around 500 to a thousand animals and we typically have made two or three trips a year. Throw in three years of sabbatical where I collected several thousand animals each year and the figures add up. These estimates don't include the relatively few animals that I get from commercial sources. Any way you look at it, it amounts to a lot of stuck fingers!

Roy

It makes me curious if there is a such thing as a freshwater or brackish water species of mantis. There are just so many it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[theyangman]

Wow..... Dedication defined.

 

[Gonodactylus]

No living or fossil freshwater stomatopods that we know of. There are a few squillids and lysiosquillids that can tolerate brackish water for several days, but I don't know of any that complete their life cycle in water less than around 25 ppt - but there isn't much of a literature on this.

Roy

 

[TundraGuy]

Do you have a favorite stomatopod Doc? If so what is it about it that stands out to you?

 

[Gonodactylus]

It depends on what I'm working on, but certainly one of my favorites is Odontodactylus japonicus. This is perhaps the most interactive of all stomatopods.

Roy

 

[Calappidae]

It depends on what I'm working on, but certainly one of my favorites is Odontodactylus japonicus. This is perhaps the most interactive of all stomatopods.

Roy

Those are my favorite also.. I just love how pure their colors and structure looks.. its ashame they're rare as I would've liked to have one :sad2: