Yellow Spearer (I think) ID please?

[BlankFrank]

Hi Folks

I've been looking to pick up a smallish mantis (preferably a smithi or one of the smaller active mantises on Dr Roy's list) but they are very few and far between over here.

I saw this one today in the LFS and wondered if anyone could ID it. I'm also curious if the discolouration on the body is likely to be shell disease?

Anyway - here is a piccy. Thanks for looking!

 

[luscien]

looks like a Pseudosquilla ciliata, but im no expert! and that does look like shell disease to me.
luscien

 

[BlankFrank]

Thanks Luscien

I've had a look at the details on Dr Roy's site and it does indeed look like a Ciliata.

Does anyone have any experience of looking after one?

 

[DanInSD]

Definitely Pseudosquilla ciliata. Like most spearers, it lives in a burrow, so it needs a sand bed, and some goodies (live rock rubble, etc) to aid in construction. Besides Roy's list, there's a write-up on P. ciliata here:

http://www.grimreefers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3216

 

[Uriel]

Yes, that is a P cilata.

I have two of them (Seperate tanks), and they are really great mantis for an aquarium. One is incredibly active, and the other is marginally less so. Only my peacock and my (Evidently mutant) super-active G platysoma cruise around more, out of my 7 current mantis.

I feed miy P cilata thawed shrimp/scallp, as well as ghost shrimp, mysis and the occassional guppy.
Hermits should be safe, as are snails, so they are my two cleanest tanks, as nobody is knocking off the janitors. I did find one enpty hermit shell, however. I can only surmise that the little fellow got picked off whilst molting/changing shells...

Ha, I just looked again, and you were asking about shell disease info, not P. cilata experience, bt I shall leave my post as-is.

P cilata have a mottled pattern, and one of mine molted to look like the sand that he is living in, but that looks too irregular for that.
Dr. Roy said that he sees a lot of mantis with old scars, and most have been in qute a few scraps when you finally get them into your tank. Perhaps it is really noticable with such a bright coloration?

Hopefully, he will chime in and help you out. Good luck.


-Uriel