Stomatopod (Mantis Shrimp) Workshop

[Curtswearing]

Justin,

Welcome to Reef Frontiers and thanks for your excellent post.

To try and explain my post, let me explain that there are soooo many stories of how all mantis are going to break your tank. There are most certainly numerous species that can do this but not most seen in the hobby. There is also the famous story out there of the surgeon who was diving and he decided to grab a large mantis with his bare hands. He ended up ruining his career because this mantis shattered bones in his hands and he didn't heal up properly. Again, while there are species that can do this, most found in the hobby aren't capable of breaking your bones.

Let me also explain the glove comment. A glove will NOT stop the damage from a mantis strike. Depending on the material that the glove is made of, your skin will definately split but the glove will stretch and remain intact. Like I said, it definately hurts. I wear gloves in my tank not for mantis, I do it to avoid Mycobacterium marinum. I have on occasion gone in ungloved but NEVER if I have any type of open cut and frankly that's my main concern with a mantis strike. An open cut in saltwater getting exposed to Mycobacterium marinum. For those who've never heard of this, please read this article. Mycobacterium marinum The fish disease you can catch by Steven Pro

Here's a mantis injury.

Here's Mycobacterium marinum

 

[justinl]

whoa! haven't seen THOSE pictures before! that's gross. huh, mycobacteria... nasty critters eh. Ill definitely keep that advice in mind.

thanks curt!

 

[Curtswearing]

It's kind of funny isn't it. I'm not afraid of something that most people are afraid of. With that said, I take precautions to avoid a bacterium that is invisible that all reefers should be afraid of, but aren't.

 

[aquarookie]

I've always been afraid of the nastybacterium marinum, even before I saw these pictures. Wow! And to think that my fish had it! (according to a local fish doctor). I did not know that it was THAT bad! Yuck!

 

[mandarin_watchr]

Curt,
Thanks for bringing this post to my attention. I found it very interesting. I hope you can get me more info. Like I said I hope to by next summer have a little tank set up. I just want to know all I can before hand.
Thanks for going all out.

 

[aaron7405]

Excellent, but where is the part of how to cought a mantis?

 

[Damsel13]

Ohhhhhhh that's how I got that injury on my hand...... my mantis look likes a cross between the first and the fourth one. I have not seen it in at least 3 months but I hear it when it is hungry or sparing with my yellow watchman goby over territory. The goby has retreated to the other side of the tank for now.

 

[britany_shelton]

wow that last video with the music in the background rocked.

 

[stuntkiteflyer]

Thanks for this thread! It's very interesting. I saw one at a fish store in Oregon over the summer and I was really in love with the little guy. I was standing there talking to him :lol:. I did get him to come out and see me. He was probably thinking I was nutso. Anywho I will def. follow this thread to gain more info!

 

[GoCougsKev]

Okay, I just found this thread through a search query I just did because I just found 2 of the suckers in my tank last night. What is the best way to catch these things? So far I have read that the modified baited bottle works okay...any other suggestions on how to catch them? Also, one of them was carrying around a white object under its belly and was continuously tumbling/rotating it over and over under its belly. To me, it reminded me of a white maggot...this isn’t an egg sack is it???

 

[probe dms]

nice. ok so what do look like when they are small.....cause.......i saw a little clear thing walking around on my live rock?? it was like brine shrimp size, maybe a tad bigger.

 

[Damsel13]

probably an amphipod, good

 

[DUIdiver]

I had a G. Scyllarus (peacock mantis) and he was so cool (could have been a she I never really tried to figure it out...respected its privacy) Anyway, he was about 6-8 inches long and when I brought him home he woke me from a dea sleep by smashing on the bottom glass of his tank...it was very loud! Overall I really liked having him. I found that using a piece of 3inch Y pvc was a great burrow. Prevented him from digging out under live rock and rocks toppling on him. He would watch us eat dinner also. Anyway just thought I would give a little extra info and I hope I didn't spoil future posts.
Bryan

 

[bingme]

Circular Polarized Light detection by Mantis Shrimp.

Check out this link for a Wired article on a recent publication describing detection of circular polarized light by mantis shrimp. Who knew???
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/03/shrimp_vision

 

[DUIdiver]

Correction...O. scyllarus...sorry...gotta stop posting when I am not thinking properly!

 

[Curtswearing]

I have had several PM's about this workshop. I even got a call from Nikki.

First things first.....I greatly apologize that I didn't finish this workshop in a timely manner. There are several reasons;

A) My mother is dieing
B) I started a new LFS exactly 13 months ago today and I average 18 hour days.

I will try to finish this workshop shortly.

It is with great sadness that I have to report that Snuggles got sold last weekend. Even Dr. Roy said that he was one of the largest O.s.'s he's ever seen. I would have liked to have finished the workshop with pic's of him but it's going to have to be with my smaller female O.s. now. The rule in the store is that all employees are allowed to have a pet....but everything is for sale. However, the second rule is that you get to put the price on your pet. So, basically, a $60 mantis got sold for $280. (I figured no one would pay that...now I wish I would have priced him at $500). Just like Tyson (my Boston Terrier puppy) who runs around the store, Snuggles had his own following and it's interesting to see people's reactions when they see he's no longer there. BTW, he was the most spoiled, well fed mantis in the U.S. EVERYONE wanted to feed him.

So, again, sorry for the delay. I've re-injured my back and cannot handle 18 hour days anymore so I'll have time to finish this workshop.

 

[reeftank1]

Wow, Barrier Reef has a peacock mantis. First time I have seen one in person and what a creature. The colors are gorgeous and the eyes. Sure looks like an alien. The one they have is about 6 inches long and sure looks like a killing machine. I have never seen an animal so interested in what is going on outside the tank and did I say check out the eyes.

Great speciman for a species only tank.