Dr. Roy Caldwell Q & A #7: Odontodactylus coloration

[moviegeek]

(Originally sent to ScottL aka Gilsboy63@aol.com by Dr. Roy Caldwell)

Scott,

Your nutrition sounds fine. I think the problem is one of light and background. Also, stomatopods always lose some color at the molt. It takes weeks for it to return (if they have the right diet and light.

Odontodactylus will match background color to some extent. In dim light on dark sand, they will be dark green or olive. On white sand near the surface they tend to be lighter and more brown. These are animals that frequently live at 20-30 m although you will occasionally find them as shallow as 5 m. We currently have about 15 O. scyllarus in the lab. Most have been here for over a year - some up to three years. I can't make any generalities as to there
current color. We have a couple of very bright green males, one female as green as any male, an orange one like yours, and a few that have faded considerably. If I were to make any generalization, it is that the darker their burrow, the better the color. I give my animals black plastic tubes to live in. This really helps unless you have them in a tank where they have constructed a burrow that is long and dark.

Roy

[Death Shrimp99]

I know this post is old but i have a question on this subject. You said lighting effects coloring, does that mean less or more lighting is better? and the pics in the lurkers guide of this species almost all the pics have diffrent coloring, is this just that some specimins have diffrent coloring or does it have to do with food and lighting?

[Gonodactylus]

O. scyllarus are somewhat color polymorphic. Juveniles have a yellowish body color, females tend to be olive to brown-olive and males olive to green. Diet, lighting, and habitat can all modify this to some extent. In a tank with white sand and a diet of just shrimp, these animals fade rapidly and become grey-purplish. Giving them a dark burrow and a varied diet can restore color in a molt or two. The role that light plays in this is complicated. Most O. s. live below 20 feet where it is not that bright and light is becoming more blue. I've seen some very brightly colored O. s. at 80 feet, but generally the brightest ones come from near the surface in broad spectrum light.