Need to rehome a mantis
 

Hello!

Today I found this little guy in my Florida live rock. He's cool but I don't want a mantis right now. Would anyone like to have him? And can anyone ID him from my (admittedly not-so-great) photos?

I'll ship him overnight to anyone who is interested, with preference going to people closest to me (I'm in Missouri). I'll even pay for shipping. I can't guarantee he will make it, but we can try. I will also include some whelks for him to eat or maybe friends for him at his new home to clean up after him.

Please let me know if you are interested or if you know what this guy is.

Thanks!
- Morgan

I forgot to mention this - he (or she) is about 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) long.

If you can get a pic of the smashers, it’ll help the most :)

It seems to be one of the neogonodactylus species... http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...html#directory

Thank you! He came on TBS live rock; I believe it is wennerae, but I am certainly no expert. I wouldn't know where to start with identification! I just got him yesterday and I don't want to stress him out any more by flipping him over or handling him just yet. Maybe if he calms down I can offer him a little shrimp and get a better pick of those ornery little appendages.

Does anyone want him? He's free...

I’d gladly take him... I’m in Sacramento though :/

Hadla - you may wind up with him if no one closer is willing! I'm sure it'd be pricey to UPS him overnight, but I would rather pay than kill him or let him kill everyone else in my tank!

Here's another attempt at a pic. He's gone in a little PVC tube, same as the last one I got did. He comes out to hunt around, so I think he is a little less freaked out than he was yesterday. Maybe I am personifying him a bit too much?

Raptoral appendages seem small, but it'd hard to get a good look, and even harder to get a photo. He's not overly aggressive and seems quite hardy.

Okay, here are some more photos. Still hard to get raptorial smasher thingys in focus.

(Sorry about the dog hair in the one photo - my dog was 'helping' me find the right lighting.)

Pretty chill little guy. Had some mysis without any knocking on tongs.

Yeah they are funny little things... some strike first and ask questions later lol I think he might even be ok with 2 day shipping if there’s a heat pack

Oh, if only...

Not coming to Portugal anytime soon, are you? xD

Im In Aiken, South Carolina! I would love to have him!

I have "rescued" two mantis shrimp from SjMantis on this forum and they are still doing great.

Roy Or Nmotz should correct me on this - But do I see a white meral spot? I would say he is a Neogonodactylus bredini. I very much would love to take him in.

Okay! I'm glad people are interested!

Looks like rates are comparable to both Sacramento and Aiken, with Aiken being a hair cheaper. Could you send me zip codes (either in PM or post, whichever you are more comfortable with)?

Sorry ffoott, no travel plans. :( It's cool that you like him though!

Mr. Manty - what shipping did you use for your other two mantises? I have read the sticky about shipping mantises and it was helpful, but I'm still a bit nervous about it. This guy seems pretty hardy though. I have him at a chilly 70F/21C-ish and he is fine (I didn't want to risk a glass heater in his bucket because of the smashers).

Area code: 29801

The two that were shipped to me were actually shipped from washington state using two day shipping. They were both in bags of water and air with a single piece of pvc pipe in each bag. The bags were inside of a styrofoam box.

These were two very hardy species - Gonodactylaceus graphurus and Gonodactylus chiragra. If what you have is indeed a Neogonodactylus bredini, then he should ship quite well.

That’s ok, he can have him :) I want a wennerae

This guy is from TBS, which is in Florida. Are bredini in Florida? I'd hate to disappoint. In that photo there do seem to be small meral spots but I also gave him some shrimp so it could be floating shrimp pieces. I will try to get better photos tonight.

Just this morning I did find an lfs about an hour away willing to take him. They'd get him for free but I wouldn't have to pay shipping. I'd still like to offer him to someone on here first - anyone willing to cover part of the shipping cost thru PayPal? I'd be willing to shell out up to $20 toward shipping, if someone could cover the rest (just to ensure he got a home with someone who really knows about mantis). You don't have to pay me until I ship it out or even until you receive the box. Otherwise, the lfs seems like the cheapest option.

If you want to figure shipping to your area my zip code is 65536 in Missouri. What do you think Mr. Manty? I can't guarantee live arrival, but I can insure the package. Do you want more pics first to be sure of the species?

That was me btw! This guy keeps his work and takes very good care of my little guys! 😊

That sounds good to me! And yes, I would like to see his meral spots first.

But use USPS, not UPS or Fedex. They will be much cheaper. If you can't for whatever reason, take him to your lfs.

I'm excited!

I will get some better photos tonight and post them.

I can use USPS - they are much cheaper. I usually use UPS because they are more willing to ship "dangerous" things with fewer questions, but I can just tell the post office it is aquarium supplies. My USPS can be a bit grumpy - it depends on which person I get to help me (some of them are great). If they will not ship him, I will take him to the lfs. Are you willing to go in for $25 or so to ship through USPS? I can do the other $20.

I don't have any good coral frags ready right now, but I could include some gracilaria and ulva algae, if you like! I can put it in a separate bag so as not to foul the water.

YES!
And i would LOVE some gracilaria. I am huge into macroalgae!

Sounds like we have a plan! I love macros too! Halimeda is my fav.

I just ordered a heat pack on Amazon. I have some old coolers I saved for this very purpose. I will try to trim them down and make a waterproof box. I have some heavy-duty plastic bags I got the lr in that I saved in case someone wanted this guy. I will get some better pics later today and if you are still interested, I can probably ship him out Wednesday or Thursday. By then he should be rested up for his trip.

Awesome! If you have any other macro's you can give samples of, id love it!

Here are some more photos. I tried to get more of the smasher-thingys. Does this help you ID them?

I can include halimeda, ulva, and some different gracilarias. I also have some more species, but nothing I can propagate yet. The halimedas I just got from someone else so they are not real pretty yet. I don't have any caulerpas at this time because I am afraid they will "go sexual." :/ Would you like a small rock with barnacles? I also have some freshwater plants if you do those too.

Brendi and wennerae can be difficult to tell apart due to how polymorphic both species are. User Nmotz on this forum was explaining to me that Neogonodactylus wennerae is found more commonly throughout the Florida/northern Caribbean area where your liverock is from. If i can verify that the meral spot is white, I feel like i can have confidence in it being a wennerae. See the attached photo to see what the meral spot is.

I do freshwater as well, so i would love some FW plants! I would love that rock! I would love a bit of everything! I will cover all the shipping and give you a little extra for all that.

I have been running Caulerpa of various types in a 20 gal with my havanensis and a few fish. I just make sure i feed enough to keep some minor detectable nitrates to hopefully avoid it going sexual. Its been stable for about 6 months now.

Thank you for the photo! That is quite helpful. I actually looked up a previous post about meral spots on this forum and tried to get the little guy to "open up" for a photo. I certainly do not see meral spots, but I am also kind of afraid to get too close to this little guy. I will try to get better photos. (Based on location I would say wennerae, but I understand they do overlap in locations and I am certainly not a mantis expert.)

Do you still want him if he is wennerae? Because if you want him either way, I can go ahead and send him as soon as I get the heating pack. If you ONLY want bredini then maybe Hadla will want him if he is wennerae?

I also could send Oryzias woworae. These are fun little fw ricefish that breed like crazy and seem pretty hardy. I also have a constant supply of bristle nose plecos. I can try to send some of either of those too, although it may increase shipping and require a bigger box. I don't know how they would fare in 2-day shipping either. Winter just hit here, so my plant stores are down, but I have some hardy tropical plant starts I could send. My sw stores are down a bit right now, but I will find a few fun things to throw in! (I actually have a ton of baby koi I need to give away, but those guys are oxygen hogs and I don't know about shipping them.)

I've kept caulerpa before, years ago, as a form of nutrient export, and I never had problems. My tang kept it in check. Right now I am using 'turf algae' as nutrient export - my first time trying a turf scrubber. My newest reef tank has not been up and running for long - no fish yet and the skimmer is off right now. I like to 'adopt' neglected stony corals and bring them back to bright, happy colors. In the future I hope to have lots of frags to share!