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View Full Version : Help me ID this mantis

Flame_Angel
05/01/2012, 05:20 PM
Caught this little bugger out of my 400g reef last week. I was feeding pieces of fish to the anemones and he just struts out of the rock towards a piece right in front of me like he owns the joint, so I snagged him with the tweezers and set him up in a tank on the counter. He's extremely personable and is already hanging out in full view with people near the tank.

I took a look at Roy's ID list and narrowed it down to these two:

Neogonodactylus bredini (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_bredini)

Neogonodactylus curacaoensis (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_curacaoensis)

My live rock was wild-raised off the coast of Florida, so it has to be those two. Here's a few pics, he's about 3" in length:

http://i.imgur.com/8xKBml.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pwwj2l.jpg

Already got the little bugger eating pellets and mysis. He's definitely not picky about what he eats.
AirportFF
05/01/2012, 05:53 PM
I'm in the market for a mantis for my 20l. If you decide to get rid of it LMK. Of course depending on the species.
JmartWI
05/01/2012, 06:09 PM
Eeeeeh not sure.... Have you seen the spots on it's arms?
Flame_Angel
05/01/2012, 06:30 PM
I haven't noticed any spots, no. Of course, none that are blatantly obvious.
united417
05/01/2012, 07:28 PM
N. Wennerae is also a common species found in Florida waters (and more northern areas of the Caribbean) whereas N. Bredini tends to occur more in the southern region of the Caribbean.i took all of this off of Doc's site however and am by no means the expert...coincidentally(maybe) the two you mentioned, and the Wennerae, all have white meral spots, so that really isn't of much help haha.regardless of the species, a very nice catch!
Gonodactylus
05/02/2012, 08:32 AM
It is either N. wennerae or N. bredini. The two are almost impossible to tell apart except by using molecular data. N. bredini is typically found in the low intertidal while N. wennerae is found subtidally. Most stowaways in live rock are N. wennerae.

Roy
TundraGuy
05/02/2012, 11:25 AM
Hey Doc are these two able to cross breed with young that can still produce off spring?
Gonodactylus
05/02/2012, 11:48 AM
Not known but given that we can find both species at the same location, I doubt it.

Roy
Flame_Angel
05/02/2012, 02:42 PM
It is either N. wennerae or N. bredini. The two are almost impossible to tell apart except by using molecular data. N. bredini is typically found in the low intertidal while N. wennerae is found subtidally. Most stowaways in live rock are N. wennerae.

Roy
Thanks Roy, I just wanted to make sure I knew what species it was in case someone asked.
TundraGuy
05/03/2012, 06:07 AM
thank you Doc
Flame_Angel
05/03/2012, 06:33 PM
Went to give him a piece of krill this morning and he came swimming out of the rock and took it out of the tweezers before the krill was completely underwater. He's definitely not shy about coming out!