Mantis color change

[photobarry]

Ok, I've been bugging my friend to post this for a couple of weeks and have decided to do it myself. He has a mantis that came in on some Gulf-view live rock. It was a deep red color for the first 8 months that he had it. It had molted a couple times in that 8 months. After the last molt the mantis reemerged a brilliant lime green color. Has anyone else had their mantis shrimp drastically change color like that?

[Gonodactylus]

This is common for this species (Neogonodactylus wennerae). It has to do with the light they are exposed to and how they match the background. At the depth where these animals are caught (40 - 60 feet), ambient light is predominantly blue. Also, there are not many green plants or algae. At this depth, the rust brown appears very dark and the animal matches the background quite well. Near the surface where there is bright broad spectrum light, there are lots of green plants and algae. The green color that the mantis turned matches this beautifully. The stomatopods remarkable color vision system monitors the ambient light and through hormonal control effects the color of the exoskeleton. The color of the animal primarily can be changed when the animal lays down a new cuticle and sheds the old one.

Roy

[photobarry]

Wow, that's really neat! Now if only corals thought that the light in an Eclipse tank was bright. :D

[technoshaman]

My N.wennerae did the same thing. Was a nice bright red and after last molt a month or two ago is now bright green.

[Agu]

Hmmm, Would using primarily actinic lighting "fool" the mantis into maintaining it's red color ?

Agu

[photobarry]

I'll speculate until Gonodactylus chimes back in. The manis I spoke of is in a really dimly lit tank but it is lit by a standard Eclipse fluorescent bulb which is more to the red end of the spectrum. It seems that the color change is based mostly on spectrum then. So, I imagine that if they were kept under only actinic light that they would maintain their red coloration.

Am I right?

[Gonodactylus]

Unfortunatelly, it isn't quite that simple. We have conducted experiments that show that maintaining animals in blue light shifts the color filters in their eyes toward permitting longer wavelenghts to be transmitted, but this doesn't always result in body color changes. The colors of the habitat that the animal lives in can also have an effect. Red coralline algae will tend to produce reddish N. wennerae, green turtle grass green. However, the quality of the light (and possibly the quantity) seems to be involved as well.

Still, I think a bluish light is worth a try.

Roy

[photobarry]

Well, that explains a lot. I think my friend's mantis may have had its brain scrambled. :D The tank that it is in has LR entirely covered in purple coralline algae and the background is blue. There isn't anything green in the entire tank. Maybe a couple small blades of turg algae. It is funny to watch because it thinks its really well camouflaged but it sticks out like a sore thumb. LOL It would be interesting to figure out all that is involved in determining these color changes.

[Agu]

After four years under curly compact fluoro lighting my mantis is still red.