Interesting Mantis Info

[Mr. Eko]

I saw this on my girlfriends AOL profile for the Random Fact.


Mantis shrimp can't be kept in ordinary aquariums, because they easily break the glass with their powerful claws.

Is that really true? Why would they try to break the glass?

[romanr]

Maybe a 2 gallon goldfish bowl!
I never heard this before but what do I know?

[DaddyJax]

Only very large mantis have enough power to crack glass on an aquarium. And it would need to be the smashing kind.
Mantis's will hit the glass to try and burrow or if something flashes by it's aquarium. They are known more for cracking heaters than tanks because most heaters are very thin glass and have a little light that comes on and off.

[DaddyJax]

There have been cracked aquariums from mantis's but it is usually 10g and 5-6" peacock's that do it.

[richard55]

I have read that a smasher "can" hit with the force of a 22 caliber.

www.blueboard.com/mantis/

[LittlePuff]

You need to reinforce the bottom of a tank with a smasher.

Kim

[PelagicMagic]

not true old wifes tale

[DaddyJax]

Originally posted by PelagicMagic
not true old wifes tale

Which statement?

[PelagicMagic]

breaking glass

[DaddyJax]

My 4 1/2" peacock came to me because it broke a heater in my customers tank.
It is very ulikely that someone who would keep a mantis big enough to crack a tank would have it in a glass tank. Most mantis keepers keep them in acrylic tanks to prevent such an event.

[PelagicMagic]

heater is thin glass so is a 10-20 gal tank. I don't see it occuring in a 55 or larger tank. If it did that would be a dead mantis. But i am not saying it couldnt happen

[JumboShrimp]

The peacock is notorius for cracking glass, heaters... Thats why mantis tanks are acrylic, or are usually fitted with a piece of acrylic on this bottom, if the tank is glass... They have to be able to smahs hard.... to kill thier prey, and bore out rocks... neat fellas

[Mr.Maska]

I have to say, this is one of the most interesting things ive read in a long time. i wonder why a scavenger(janitor) could obtain such emense power as a 22 caliber. pls post what they usually kill in the wild

[richard55]

Anything!! really I am not joking they are extremly powerful, fast swimmers and have the MOST devoloped vision of any animal in the world. A smasher can and will smash any shrimp crab snail ect that it sets its sights on. The "spear" type have been said to cut a fish in half. I dont doubt for a second that a mantis could and has smashed tanks. I had a hitchhiker that was maybe an inch long. At the time I had no idea what it was, I used a foot long wood spoon to give him a poke and at his small size he hit the spoon hard enough to move the spoon. The are not scavengers they are 100% natural born killers, up there with octos.

http://blueboard.com/mantis/pics/mills.htm
I am guessing that this spearer is over a foot long

[worldwidereef]

I was told by a LFS employee that the 2 inch mantis they have for sale there could break a human bone. I find this very hard to beleave, but then again it is a LFS employee.

[PelagicMagic]

i think its pound for pound .22 cal strength kinda like how a spiders web is stronger than steel

[richard55]

I would doubt that a 2 inch mantis could break a bone. It would hurt more than you would think though.

Force equal mass times velocity. The strike is incredably fast. A 22 has less mass than a full size mantis "club" and I promise you they are slower. Also just for referance a bullet moves through air while a mantis is in water, much denser, and it will still hit harder.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumd...?s=&forumid=37

these people live for mantis. drop in and ask if they think a mantis can break a tank.

[greckel]

Actually..... Force=Mass times Acceleraltion.
Force is measured in Newtons=Killograms*meter/seconds squared)
......The way to really tell is to calculate the kinetic energy of the bullet as compared to the club. This begins by calculating the momentum....Momentum=Mass times Velocity
Then plug the value for momentum into the kinetic energy equation given by......
1/2 times Velocity times Momentum.
The object with the greatest KE will "hit the glass the hardest".

Also.....while the mantis club is in some cases larger, it doesn't neccessarily mean that it has a greater mass. Mass is independent of Volume.......for instance, the density of a .22 calibur bullet that is solid and made intirely out of lead has a density of 207.2 grams per mole....as opposed to a mantis club which just as a guess has a density that is slightly heavier than water(18grams per mole).

If you have a mantis club that has been severed near the joint, then maybe you can use the appropriate calculations and find out for a fact.
-Greg

[wastedalf]

I used to have a mantis I got off a piece of live rock and had him in a ten gallon with a couple small pieces of rock... couple weeks later water all over the floor and 3 inches left in the tank from a crack in the glass, assuming by him. I've heard stories of them breaking fingers, don't know if they're true.

[greckel]

disregard what i said about kinetic energy....not only was i a little off on the equation(3 years since physics class) but momentum should be sufficient to calculate.
Momentum= Mass times Velocity

My money is on the bullet.......betting it has a much larger mass.
Also.......the bullet delivers all of its Kinetic Energy while the mantis club loses some of its Kinetic Energy to its own arm and body(bounces back), Energy is dissapated through out the mantis' body into the water medium. I am tired of thinking about this.

[richard55]

The bullet may have more mass but a 22 is a very slow bullet in the world of fire arms. You are correct in the bullet not haveing a "kick back". Just out of curiosity would not the force of the bullet be also felt by the person shooting. as in all action has an equal and oppisite reaction. So the mantis must dissapate all the energy that it produces, this make the little bogger that much more scary to me. at 180 lbs a person can handle the reaction of a 22 with out a finch. a mantis's mass is very little compared and it still hits with a tremondous amount of force. Watch a video of a mantis strike the bounce is not even noticable.

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/...articleID=1114

[greckel]

Well, I looked it all up as best as I could and found some interesting facts.....
A .22 calibur bullet travels, maximally, at 1230.6 miles per hour. Which seems to support the case for the bullet except this guys article.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

I would like to see this study he is talking about........also this source agrees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplocarida

Nothing rock solid but I guess I'll join the majority, it is always right among opinions. Well done mantis shrimp.

[Agu]

I'll take the word of a leading stomatopod researcher in the world regarding breaking glass.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ighlight=glass

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ighlight=glass

[Aquaguru]

Hey wasn't there a video clip on a mantis shrimp that was caught killing its prey. The clip had to be slowed way down so that you could see him kill it. They are soo fast and strong. Also i think that it was flourescent too, i hope someone can find this clip.

[richard55]

At blueboard.com/mantis they have several videos