Whacked by a Lysiosquillina
 

I was hit by a 27 cm L. maculata this afternoon. For those of you keeping large burrowing spearers, please don't become complacent. Even though these animals are fairly shy and usually retire into the burrow when you are working around the entrance. they can do quite a bit of damage.

Roy

Pic's?

Not this time. I was too busy trying to deal with the effects. I will be typing with one hand for awhile.

Roy

ouch

Oh, there has to be pics!!

Dr. Roy, you have quite some style for ringing in the new year. Kidding, of course.

My heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery. I have had a typing hand out of commission for a while, and I know how much it sucks. Once you feel up to it I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I'd like to hear details. Presumably laceration was the primary injury?

Dan

ow. i can only imagine a strike from a big lysiosquillina. well... Happy New Year doc!

Actually, the strike was defensive in nature and was with a closed dactyl. I (and the male)were lucky that it wasn't a feeding strike. I'm sure the barbed dactyl spines would have embedded in my hand and I would have had to rip off the raptorial appendage. As it was, the impact was on the knuckle. It left a nasty bruise with swelling, but lots of ice (applied from the inside of a glass) helped. It certainly was not the worst injury I've received from a stomatopod, but it was one of the dumber ones I've gotten. I'm normally careful working with large stomatopods, but dropped my guard for a second and paid the price.

Roy

Wait, closed dactyl? So you didn't get cut...I seem to remember you recommending using your finger to see if a spearer was in a burrow by sticking it in the burrow and waiting for the defensive strike? Or is that because the animal had enough room outside the burrow when you were cleaning to build up a little momentum? (or maybe I'm just imagining you saying that) Certainly doesn't sound pleasant at any rate...

Dan

Most spearers strike defensively with a closed dactyl so there is little danger probing their burrows with a finger - usually inside a glove. However, when the animal in question is larger than about 15 cm, I usually use more protection.

ROy

Well, nature has its revenge. The Lysiosquillina maculata that struck me last week tried it again, but this time hit the top edge of the container and broke its dactyl. There is a lesson to be learned here. The dactyl of a spearer is not designed to strike hard objects and the defensive strike is just that - defensive in nature. The strike with a closed dactyl delivers a sharp blow to fish, octopus, other stomatopods, etc., but the dactyl can be easily broken when it contacts a hard target. Similarly, a stab with an open dactyl is risky because if a large predator or competitor is impaled, the entire appendage can be ripped off.

Roy

Wow! The more I research Stomatopods, the more I am amazed!!

Now how many molts will it take to replace/regain it's Dactyl?

It will not have to regrow the entire raptorial appendage, so a couple of molts should do it.

Roy

hahaha, i suppose that's karma?