Thread: New set up
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Unread 06/24/2019, 03:48 PM   #4
Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
 
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Join Date: Aug 2013
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Out of everything in that list, try to stay away from G.ternatensis.

They're great stomatopods, but they also live in coral heads, meaning inorder to collect them live coral gets destroyed which contributes to reef destruction. There was even field research done where biologist collected soon-to-be-cleared-for-construction hard coral fragments, and a g.tern was found in the majority of them without ever finding one outside of a coral hide. I may be describing the whole situation incorrectly but roy has touched on that in the past (he was involved in it).

Anyway, G. terns we try to avoid showing demand for to save reefs. Ones that accidentally end up in a catalog is anybody's game though.

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Echinosquilla guerinii - rare
Gonodactylellus annularis - rare
Gonodactylaceus glabrous - excellent
Gonodactylaceus graphurus - excellent
Gonodactylaceus ternatensis - pls no unless it happens to already be at a store and you can educate them about that species
Gonodactylus chiragra - very common, can chip glass but lay a sheet of acrylic at the bottom and you're 100% safe, behavior can be hit or miss, some G. chiragra are really active and cool, some can be super reclusive.
Gonodactylus smithii - amazing species
Haptosquilla hamifera - very rare, unlikely you'll find one unless you get a free hitchhiker, they're also super tiny.
Neogonodactylus wennerae - great, very hardy and easy to care for, very easy to find as a hitchhiker and stores that sell live rock often always have these up for sale too.
Odontodactylus japonicus - never seen one available in a very very long time, they're great if you somehow do manage to find one
Odontodactylus scyllarus - the most interactive and beautiful, however they can be really tricky to keep (way more prone to shell disease, and molt fatalities, you need to do a lot of research on these ones ontop of having A-tier water quality to avoid shell rot disease in too much lighting, and sadly they're one of the most commonly sought after species too.)
Acanthosquilla derijardi - never heard of someone with it, these are hatchets not smashers or spearers btw.
Busquilla plantei - might be hard to find
Cloridopsis dubia - like squillids, they can struggle in the home aquarium due to substrate conditions
Oratosquilla oratoria ^
Pseudosquilla ciliata - Great, common, and active. colors change when they molt to suit their environment.
Pseudosquillana richeri - I occasionally, once in a blue moon see them available online, gl finding one but they're pretty cool. I think kharn had one.
Squilla rugosa - low mortality rate due to mud burrows.
Tetrasquilla mccullochae - never seen one in the trade.

I'd also recommend checking out O. Havanensis, very fast and very active with similar coloration to O. Scyllarus. They're not prone to shell disease, not as picky with their burrows, they're smaller, the only catch is that they're very sensitive to ammonia and oxygen changes, but water quality swings would just slowly kill an o. scyllarus with shell rot anyway. They're not too rare either, maybe not everyday available specimens but if you know a supplier from florida they can easily get you one.


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Last edited by Calappidae; 06/24/2019 at 03:57 PM.
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