Mantis ID?

[phurst]

Yes, another ID thread

A local reef club member gave me this guy yesterday. he found him in his overflow. He's now happily residing in my 12 gal nano on my desk at work. I looked through the ID page stickied in this forum, but I got the 1000 yard stare after looking for a while.

Here he is if anyone would be willing to take a stab at IDing him (her?)

[DanInSD]

I love the colors -- quite spectacular, actually.

I'm not sure what it is, but I can tell you what it isn't. It's not a Neogonodactylus species because of the telson (tail). Any idea where it's from? That might help a lot. Also if you could look at the inside of the smashing apendages, are there colored spots there?

My "wild guess" would be G. smithii.

Dan

[Gonodactylus]

Dan,

I think you are generalizing the Neogonodactylus wennerae/bredini telson teeth to all Neogonodactylus species. In fact, this is a Neogonodactylus curacaoensis which has very sharp telson teeth as do many other species in this genus. Aside from the telson, the sure give away as to this species' identity is the orange area between the eyes.

Roy

[phurst]

Awesome! Thanks DR. Roy!

He's been smashing away all morning. Either making himself a nice home, or going to town on some hitch hiking stomatella.

I thought he was quite attractive personaly.

[Per1]

He is very nice.

Hope he is not in a glass tank!

Watched one the other day Destroy a Snail.
It was impressive to say the least.

[phurst]

Yes, he is in a glass tank. I'm not too worried about this little guy yet.

[Per1]

Okay, I was told will/can break glass tanks. Just don't want you to come home to the old fashion wet floor.

[phurst]

Ah the tank is at work, so a wet floor is not my problem

Nah, I don't think he's big enough to cause any damage.

[Per1]

Well good luck he is cool.

What happens at work stays at work.

[DanInSD]

Well, OK then! Thanks Dr. Roy, I learn something every day on this forum.

[justinl]

N. curacaoensis doesnt get big enough for you to have to worry about smashed glass.

man some reefer GAVE an N. curacaoensis to you? yeesh, some people get all the luck. take care of the guy, he's a pretty rare species in the trade.

[phurst]

Originally posted by justinl


man some reefer GAVE an N. curacaoensis to you? yeesh, some people get all the luck. take care of the guy, he's a pretty rare species in the trade.

Well, I traded a few zoas for it, but yeah, more or less. I had never considered keeping a mantis before, but I'm quite taken with the little guy. I plan on taking very good care of him.

I assume since he will stay relatively small, I should feed him small bits of meaty food, instead of buying crabs and snails for him?

[justinl]

a mantis diet should consist mainly of a variety of frozen foods. pick three. they arent picky and most of their food can be found in the grocery aisle... krill, shrimp, scallop, clam, etc etc etc. feed once every two days. remove uneaten food (youll figure out along the way just how much a mantis will eat at a time).

but you cant JUST feed frozens. at least twice a month, you should feed live hard shelled stuff... small snails, hermits or crabs (crab vs mantis is my fave show). if you dont, they might lose their rapts.

[Thurge]

^
First time you toss in a gorilla crab, you will be BEGGING people for unwanted hitchhiker crabs.

Lucky guy you are, I have only ween one of those and I am still kicking myself years later for not buying it on the spot.

[phurst]

So, seeing as this guy is a smasher, and pretty small, what are the thoughts on keeping a fish in a 12G nano with him?

[justinl]

fish and small smashers are a gamble... if you go for it, keep the mantis well fed (without compromising water quality) and stick to a fast fish that will stick to the water column. a damsel would be a good cheap choice.

[phurst]

Hmm, that's a good idea. Thanks!

[jcerdena]

That is a nice looking N. Curacaoensis, looks just like the one I bought a few months ago. Probably the coolest mantis I've ever kept.

I tried keeping fish with mine, because he was tiny (an inch long at the time) and very timid, and I figured that he wouldn't attack anything that was bigger or atleast the same size as him. I bought a yellow clown goby thinking everything would be all good, and hoped that the fish would make him a little more confident in coming out into the open more often. Well it half worked... The mantis comes out into the open all of the time now... but that was after he ate the Goby.

You might be able to keep fish with him, but I would stick with a fish that stays in the water column, like a chromis or Damsel. I think any fish that likes to perch on the sand or rockwork is going to be dinner for sure.

[phurst]

How big is he now? Mine is maybe 1 1/4".

[jcerdena]

Yeah, mine is about 1-1/4" maybe just a hair over that, he has been eating well and is growing more in width than length. He has been steadily getting more aggressive and territorial. Yesterday he swam near the top of the tank just so he could attack the feeding stick I was holding, after a couple minutes he finally realized that there was food on the other end and grabbed it, hes a lil' glutton. Usually he'll "threaten" me if I'm being nosy and looking into his tank, which of course is one of the best parts of owning a mantis (i love the treat display). Are you using a nano-tank for mantis?

[phurst]

Yeah, he's in a Nano Cube in my office at work.

[ALittleSalty]

After watching a show last night on Mantis shrimp, I wouldn't put them in a glass tank. They managed to slow down the film to see how they would kill another shrimp for a meal. When they click their claws it sends a high powered stream of bubbles, that knocks their prey out, allowing them to feast. It was really impressive. Yours looks great!!!! Might have to find me one of these marvels of the sea. Jon

[jcerdena]

Nice, my mantis is in an 8 gal cube on my desk at work too.

As far as a mantis breaking glass, it can happen with a big mantis. The mantis in question is just over an inch long, it could hit away at the glass all day long and not leave a mark.

Here is a vid of my similar mantis, same species and size. The vid is dark due to a burned out ballast, but its funny how fiesty he is, acts like I don't feed him or sumthin:

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...urrent=Neo.flv

Now, my other mantis Thor might be able to break glass, if she was mad and/or motivated enough... I guess:

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...rrent=Thor.flv

Enjoy!

[phurst]

Very cool!

Mine is still pretty timid. I see him looking out at me from time to time, but more often than not, I just hear him.

He always waits until I'm no looking to take the food off the feeding stick. Clever little SOB

[jcerdena]

lol, when I first got my little mantis, he wouldn't eat at all for a week and hid the whole time, it worried the hell out of me because he was so active at the fish store. Actually I don't think he started really accepting food until I added the clown goby to the tank. When the goby was added, the mantis would come out of his cave all of the time and even run out on to the open sand. Now that he has eaten the goby, he is still really brave, much more so than my 4" G. Chiragra.

Adding a fish to your tank might give you the same results, I just wouldn't get too attached to the fish, my wife was ****ed when I told her the goby went missing.

Another thing you could try (if you haven't already), is to add some Nassarius Snails to his tank, they are tiny and their shells are so thin he shouldn't have a problem opening one up. They also help keep your sand clean, which is a plus, and stay hidden while your mantis is active so it's not like he'll pick them all off in a single day. Plus they are cheap. When I add them to my tank, I'll lure them out with a Cyclopeeze pellet, if the snails didn't take the bait, my mantis would just eat the pellet himself, so it works out pretty well.

Anyway, good luck and keep me posted on your mantis!