Two New Buggers & an ID Confirm please, glabrous or graphurus?

[MantisO_o]

I saw these two buggers and when i saw the small mark on the tail i thought of a Gonodactylaceus graphurus. So, i'd appreciate if anyone could confirm is IF i am reading it right. I already have a nice pair of Gonodactylaceus glabrous and it would be nice if this orange one is indeed a G. graphurus instead.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/DSC_1116_A3E_ps.jpg
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/images/g_graphurusarrow.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/DSC_1116_A3E_02.gif
Looking at it from this, i'm starting to lean towards that i got another female Gonodactylaceus glabrous. Yay but slight disappointment. I never learn...lol Shrugs. (...getting crossed eye looking.)

Here is another Gonodactylus platysoma to my collection. I hope its a male then that would conclude my G. platysoma pair. Other wise S/he would be my current beloved back up, if the current female hits the fan. Hopefully not for the rest of this year or longer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/DSC_1106_A4E_ps.jpg

They will arrive next week on Tuesday.

[TundraGuy]

Dude this G. Platysoma is cool never seen them before. What are there temperament/interaction level like?

[TundraGuy]

Are the eyes that pink or is this a camera thing?

[MantisO_o]

Dude this G. Platysoma is cool never seen them before. What are there temperament/interaction level like?

Never had one till i got the first on on DD then, getting this second one i didn't hesitate cause they are bloody amazing up close. They are really as colorful as you see in the photo or better in person. Their very active but once you give it a hiding place, i rarely see it. So i'm going to play around with its space to see if i can get it to come out more.

[JothamTheSlayer]

Where do you keep finding these things!

[MantisO_o]

Common places that you all have access to.

[JothamTheSlayer]

Tell us your secret...

Where'd you find this one, LA?

[TundraGuy]

Not sure why but it reminds me of a Jack Dempsey a buddy of mine had. Coloration wise.

[MantisO_o]

Not sure why but it reminds me of a Jack Dempsey a buddy of mine had. Coloration wise.

I can kinda see that, give it a splash of black in some places.

[gpx1200]

i saw these on blouzoo but they wer allready sold, i cant have any more right now any way.
my G. platysoma has the coolest personality out of all 3 of my mantisis he's in my sumpfuge right now and he comes out of his cave to greet me and jumps around on the glass like a puppy every time i open the doors, give him some green macro algie to hide in mine allways hangs around clumps of feather calurpa

[MantisO_o]

i saw these on blouzoo but they wer allready sold, i cant have any more right now any way.
my G. platysoma has the coolest personality out of all 3 of my mantisis he's in my sumpfuge right now and he comes out of his cave to greet me and jumps around on the glass like a puppy every time i open the doors, give him some green macro algie to hide in mine allways hangs around clumps of feather calurpa

Thats interesting. I will try that with the macro algae. thanks for the idea. :)

[Kharn]

There both really nice totally different coloration to my 3 G.graphurus.

Rocky has the dark brown & dark green dominant colors with blue appendages

Maximus is mostly dark green while Minnie is almost Bright Green.

All 3 look significantly different in coloration.

EDIT: Maximus & Rocky both have the snake skin sort of pattern although its just a darker/lighter shade of the same base color, Minnie is just straight green no patterns.

[Gonodactylus]

P. ciliata!

[Bluemon]

P. ciliata!

lol this has got to be the different id ever. we thought it was a glaborus when it was in fact... a ciliata. a spearer.

[MantisO_o]

P. ciliata!

REALLY! Interesting. Even better! I don't want a double of the glabrous and i was looking at sealifeinc.net for a yellow P. ciliata but the ones they have in stock rarely get yellow. However, an orange P. ciliata I never had, i don't think...lol I'm excited...well was excited before this but more now. Thank you Dr. Roy.

How common is the color morph of Yellow and Orange for Pseudosquilla ciliata?

[MantisO_o]

lol this has got to be the different id ever. we thought it was a glaborus when it was in fact... a ciliata. a spearer.

I know! Pseudosquilla ciliata never came to mind. Another view of it and i just notice i see no clubs. Interesting. Where on the glabrous i have, her's are clearly seen at the same angle as the P. ciliata.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/DSC_1116_A3E_th.jpg

[Bluemon]

i dont think yellow/orange are all that rare. blood-red orange might be rare, but ive seen vivid yellowish-orange p. ciliatas a lot at my LFSes.

[MantisO_o]

From what i recall (correct me if i'm wrong, Dr. Roy) said often they are cream and other types of color morphs not so much in warmer hues. I have uncommonly encountered pure yellow in my search. The last i have had a yellow was from Billy. 'Bluemon', you are lucky to find what i can not. My LFSes are limited and i rarely encounter Mantis Shrimps...aside from a occasional Peacock...lol.

[Gonodactylus]

P. ciliata are excellent animals at matching background. Most that I encounter in the field are green or green stripe, sandy colored, black, brown or cream mottle. Yellow and orange morphs in the Caribbean are rare if non-existent. They are occasionally seen in the Indo-Pacifc, particularly on colorful coral reef flats. Given that the yellow and orange morphs are more easily seen by human collectors walking reef flats, they show up in disproportionate numbers in shipments from Indonesia and the Philippines. Still, they are quite rare in most habitats where P. ciliata occur.

Roy

[Bluemon]

move to california! haha.

i feel bad for the mantises because they are often in a specimen container like less than half a gallon.

[Gonodactylus]

I feel worse for those that are kept in large open containers.

Roy

[Bluemon]

why? do they get scared?

[Gonodactylus]

Almost all stomatopods live in a tight fitting burrow or cavity. They are very thigmotactic (like to touch walls). Being in the open is quite stressful for them. As long as the water qualify is good, small chambers are fine. There are exceptions. Animals such as P. ciliata travel in the open over long distances, but most gonodactylids seem "happiest" inside a small cavity.

[Bluemon]

yea the system was connected to a larger system.

i guess it was happy then :)

[MantisO_o]

Almost all stomatopods live in a tight fitting burrow or cavity. They are very thigmotactic (like to touch walls). Being in the open is quite stressful for them. As long as the water qualify is good, small chambers are fine. There are exceptions. Animals such as P. ciliata travel in the open over long distances, but most gonodactylids seem "happiest" inside a small cavity.

Interesting.

[MantisO_o]

P. ciliata are excellent animals at matching background. Most that I encounter in the field are green or green stripe, sandy colored, black, brown or cream mottle. Yellow and orange morphs in the Caribbean are rare if non-existent. They are occasionally seen in the Indo-Pacifc, particularly on colorful coral reef flats. Given that the yellow and orange morphs are more easily seen by human collectors walking reef flats, they show up in disproportionate numbers in shipments from Indonesia and the Philippines. Still, they are quite rare in most habitats where P. ciliata occur.

Roy

What would you suggest i could do to have it keep its nice Orange hue?

[Kharn]

Interesting.

I know rite, it makes you think hard about how best to size an aquarium for them knowing that most spend 90% of there lives within the burrow.

In terms of space saving.

[usatennisfan]

I know! Pseudosquilla ciliata never came to mind. Another view of it and i just notice i see no clubs. Interesting. Where on the glabrous i have, her's are clearly seen at the same angle as the P. ciliata.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/GodKillerKBGAN1/DSC_1116_A3E_th.jpg

Looking at the picture you can pretty easily see the checkerboard eyes. Funny that BZA didn't see the lack of clubs. Kinda makes me question the reliability of things over there but I think I am jumping the gun there.

[MantisO_o]

Looking at the picture you can pretty easily see the checkerboard eyes. Funny that BZA didn't see the lack of clubs. Kinda makes me question the reliability of things over there but I think I am jumping the gun there.

I figured when they saw the orange they just assumed it must be one or the other, glabrous or graphurus. They don't give detailed pictures of their stock, which in turns give consumers a hard time identifying what their buying.

[gnasher]

Almost all stomatopods live in a tight fitting burrow or cavity. They are very thigmotactic (like to touch walls). Being in the open is quite stressful for them. As long as the water qualify is good, small chambers are fine. There are exceptions. Animals such as P. ciliata travel in the open over long distances, but most gonodactylids seem "happiest" inside a small cavity.

Hmm, mine lives in a hollowed out rock with a hole on top. I figured she'd enjoy the extra room as long as it was secure. Do you think it's likely that she's filled the inside to suit her liking? Substrate is crushed coral with some rubble and plenty of hermit shells. It seems like things that I haven't seen in months pop out of that rock like a clown car sometimes.

[TundraGuy]

What I don’t like about the statement is that when people reed what you posted Doc they will assume it’s best to keep them in a small tank. Not realizing bigger is better given you provide them the ability to tuck themselves away into a burrow. I hope people don’t read this and think well I got this shot glass and some air line hose I can run to it for water flow from my bigger tank and let it just overflow back to a sump. What I don’t like about the statement is that when people reed what you posted Doc they will assume it’s best to keep them in a small tank. Not realizing bigger is better given you provide them the ability to tuck themselves away into a burrow. I hope people don’t read this and think well I got this shot glass and some air line hose I can run to it for water flow from my bigger tank and let it just overflow back to a sump.

[Gonodactylus]

TundraGuy,

I see nothing wrong with what I posted. We were talking about housing stomatopods in LFS enclosures and I specified that as long as the water quality was good, gonodactylids could live in close quarters. The only modification I would make to my statement is that it would be better if they had opaque walls and floor. I would assume that most aquarists would know that there is usually some correlation between aquarium size and water quality - or at least a buffering effect.

Example 1. I have a L. sulcata that has been in a 1 gal satellite tank for 10 years. As far as I know, it has never left its burrow in all that time. By most peoples standards, I think you would have to agree that it is doing well.

Example 2. I have a eurysquillid (new species) in a 2 gal aquarium connected to a Fluval 204. It has molted six times in four years and almost never leaves its pvc burrow. Aside from some color change, it is doing well.

Roy

[MantisO_o]

I have a eurysquillid (new species) in a 2 gal aquarium connected to a Fluval 204. It has molted six times in four years and almost never leaves its pvc burrow. Aside from some color change, it is doing well.

Roy

WOW, what would this look like? and have you found out as to why it molts so seldom?

[Bluemon]

does the new species have 2 spears and 2 clubs? gee i hope so :)

[Gonodactylus]

Seems to be a low energy, nocturnal sit and wait predator that rarely moves, let alone leave its cavity. Same lifestyle as Echinosquilla.

Roy

[Bluemon]

oh i have another question. what do mantises do in their burrows? sure they sleep and eat there.. but what else? itd be awfully boring

[usatennisfan]

Well if it is a male then they drink beer, watch football, and play video games. If it is female they... heck, you got me...

[Kharn]

Dr. Caldwells post further makes understanding the easy requirements for this easy to keep animals people freak out too much about what they need etc.