Potential Female w/ pics (Lysiosquillina maculata)

[MantisO_o]

I have no bloody idea how this bugger survived being in-transit with those EVIL FedEx. What i find so amazing that from all the types of Mantis Shrimps i have owned Lysiosquillina maculata is the most durable. From Mar 7, 2:26pm the package was picked up from Rhinelander, WI to arrive on Mar 8, 2:31am at a FedEx Hub at Indianapolis, IN. Where it remained there till Mar 9. 3:38pm and arrives to Alexandria, VA at 7:36am and finally on my lap at 9:18am. I left it on drip 9:43am to 2:23pm. Once i placed it in the center chamber of the 55G…it went as if it had never went through that crazy-ness.

Knowing my luck in anything its likely to be male. As Dr. Roy stated in one of my previous post (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1985983) about this bugger...

The pink coloration of females comes from the yolk in the ovaries. This develops at sexual maturity - around 16-18 cm. This could be an immature female, but the eyes look a bit large. However, if immature the eyes and raptorial appendages may not be reduced.


Sexual dimorphism develops at around 16-18 cm total body length. After that, as males grow larger the dactyls of the raptorial appendages become longer. In females, the eyes become relatively smaller and the dactyls reduced with fewer spines. Not knowing the size of these animals, I can only offer an educated guess as their sex. The first one may be a female, but I wouldn't put more than even money on it.

Roy






So i trust him on the final say. I took pictures and i don't see male parts…well, i'm not sure what i see to think of it…lol

It is 6 inches long (15.24 cm) just less then an inch under the range stated above. Also it's VERY active compared to the (8.5 inches) male and his gonads were clear but knew he was male before that.

Now for the pictures...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF01.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF02.jpg

Now pictures under the hood...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF04.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF05.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/ZebF06.jpg

Your thoughts here... :)
Thanks, Brian

[Gonodactylus]

It is a female. Lysiosquillina are some of the toughest stomatopods going with respect to shipping. They have to be given the conditions that often exist in their burrows.

Roy

[MantisO_o]

Thank you very much sir. :)

[othercents]

Yeah the last two pictures were the best for seeing the female parts. Does this mean you can put them both together in the same aquarium?

[Fartin'Gary]

In the last pic, what am I looking for to determine that it is a female?

[lionbacker54]

In the last pic, what am I looking for to determine that it is a female?

it's actually what you don't see. males have twig-like sticks behind the third pair of walking legs.

nice pics, brian

[MantisO_o]

My understanding is that it doesn't have two antenna like things sticking out from it's underside its a girl. Its the segment where the first walking legs are, i think...(oh, its third pair legs?) and i have already placed them together in one tank but divided by egg crate. Also from my understanding. the male is too big for this female...where she should be larger then he. Not sure if there would be any other issues. Dr Roy would have to chime in... shrugs. and thanks lionbacker54 :)

[Koshmar]

Dude you have a female! You're so lucky! Are you going to try to mate them when the female gets larger?

[MantisO_o]

Yeah dude! I was excited all night at work. Once Dr. Roy said it was a female i almost died...lol She is still alive... survived the first night with me, she better! After all that crazy-ness. Oh she feed for me...gave her a sliverside. She excepted it with no issues, however, the male didn't. Not sure what to do with him...may do what did for my past mantises not feed you till you eat what i give you or die...lol. His expendable (don't get me wrong i love them both but its rare to find a female as we all know.). I'm going to treat her like Alice and more!

For the male I'll try to go to the hardware store and get the male a PVC pipe to get him started. Hoping that at least his in a tube he might feed for me. Other wise starve cuz what can i do when i even left a live bullethead goby for him to eat. I have a video of that... post it later. Yeah, course i'll try to hook them up...lol Knowing if they did breed not like i can raise their kids...lol It would be nice to see them together as a pair in the same tank vs two of the same species but want nothing to do with each other. Plus i can get rid of the walls. Tacky looking. :)

[othercents]

In the last pic, what am I looking for to determine that it is a female?

Females have gonopores which are between the first walking legs. They mate belly to belly where the male puts his parts into her parts.

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd443/othercents/ZebF06.jpg

Also, The female can also store sperm for an undetermined amount of time before laying eggs. Some have reported 3 months before producing eggs.

[MantisO_o]

Yup, that's where i thought to look :)

[usatennisfan]

Very freaking cool! Can we get a picture of the whole tank?

[Fartin'Gary]

Pretty cool. Those guy live longer than most rock stars.

[MantisO_o]

Eventually yes, i'll have pictures of the set up. Right now it looks embarrassing and trying to get the male to accept the poor substitution of the burrow 'starter kit', an acrylic tube . I think his still stress and or doesn't have enough mucus to dig his burrow. Trying to execute exactly what Dr. Roy said. However he won't take the sliverside... would anyone have suggestions what i could feed him? If not i'll have to keep starving him for a few more days. Don't want to do that but shrugs.

As for Anthea she's just chillin'... all i need to do is cut off the back panel of egg crate flooring to give her access to another five inches of sand. The tank is divided in to two parts...originally three. There are walls of egg-crate on ether side of the tank. It divides it in to three sections...where the middle is much larger then the two at the ends of the tank.

Length x Width x High
Left Compartment - 8Lx12Wx21H inches
Center Compartment - 32Lx12Wx21H inches
Right Compartment - 8Lx12Wx21H inches
Tunnel - 32Lx5Wx5H inches

The compartments at the ends of the tank are connected by a passage way going through the center chamber towards the front of the 55 gallon. Hoping that he'd dig against the glass and possibly get the chance to see his activities. This tunnel is closed off from the center chamber...Where the male is currently place on one of the ends of the tank. The goal is to get him to dig from one end to the other. As i did that to my previous male. So, the center chamber would be where Anthea will be placed and she would have the whole center compartment to dig from. They both would get about the same depth of sand and currently is at nine to ten inches deep. Trying to put at least twelve inches of sand in there but no idea on how much sand a 55 gallon could handle, any idea?