Getting my spearer in today

[cschweitzer]

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=c_dubia

I have been waiting months upon months to find a good color, decent size(that wouldn't grow too big) spearer mantis so I can watch and compare the spearer and the smasher tendencies. Well, hopefully that wait has paid off.

I set up a 10G tank with a 4-5" sandbed and some rock that had been curing for over a year and had a couple corals on it. He gets his own little home. Above is a link to the type of mantis I am getting and it looks a lot like the one in the pictures...


Oh yeah, also getting an acan lord(that cost me four times as much as the spearer), but that's secondary right now to me...I have my priorities all out of whack.

[InLimbo87]

Patiently awaiting pics!

[cschweitzer]

:)...Me too(well, at least the awaiting part...not so much patiently)

[seth16]

wow, that is great Craig, looks awesome...... :)

[lifesworksataol]

looks cool man - so i guess people will pay money for mantis shrimp. how much do those special mantis cost compared to the rugular ones?

[cschweitzer]

Just over $15. The only reason I got it is because I have been looking for a spearer for about a year. I have my smasher and could've had ten of them in my time...but I have only twice seen a different spearer being sold, and neither of the squilla genus looked good at all. They were just brown and nasty looking...this guy is blue and red and clear, big, healthy and most importantly, a spearer.

I got the package in...Yikes!!! So, one corner of the package was wet, not soaked, just moist enough to make me worry. So I dig open the box and see no structural damge to the styro box...still completely in tact. I finally get the tape off that, just worrying the mantis decided to spring out of the bag...Nope. So next, is the acan still in water...Yep. Neither of the bags sprung a leak. What I am assuming happened was that FEDEX put the package on its side during shipment, the depressurization and repr___ during flight caused the bag to get tight and squeezed out some water. That is my best guess, but the mantis was alive and alert...and BIG!!. He'll still do fine in the ten gallon, but I didn't realize that he was almost full sized already:). I hope he does well when I acclimate him...

[cschweitzer]

Oh, and he was charging $30 before the business started to sell of all their products...he certainly hooked me up:).

[chrisstie]

Aw and you got an acan? lucky guy craig, I tried to find some deals with them but they were out of livestock already and I can't afford any hardware yet for my big tank...

I really am not adept or studied on my mantis.. What is the difference between a smasher and a spearer if you don't mind elaborating? I hear people wanting spearers all the time - I presume its a function of how they eat?

And yes we need pics when your new guy is ready to debut! His coloring sounds gorgeous. I always thought the way mantis were shaped was sort of funny like.. in the link you posted it looks like it was supposed to become a dog or a cat or something but got stuck in the water and just assumed a sort of similar shape (its probably just me and me having a non caffeinated root beer.. but darn barqs is good)

[cschweitzer]

Smashers have the little balls on the end of their hands. This is used to create their home(they'll break the rocks to create a crevice to their liking), and to eat, which their meals mainly consist of snails, hermits, and other such creatures. To eat these they must break the shell or be very sneaky. That is what makes the loud pops from smashers(and the main reason they are different from pistol shrimps, who mainly use their pop as a defense)

Spearers have little spears with jagged saw like teeth down the side of the spear to catch and keep their prey, which mainly consists of fish(although just like smashers, given the opportunity, they'll eat just about any meaty foods).

The site that I linked with the picture of the one I'm getting has a very good description page telling you the differences between the stromapods

[keithntracy]

OMG!!! We saw this beast today....he's huge!!! Very cute but VERY big...lol...congrats Craig!