Your Mantis Photography and Video thread

[gpx1200]

Originally Posted by Kharn

I reallly like the Gonodactylaceus ternatensis specially yours :P it has to be one of if not the BEST stomatopod to house inside a full blown reef setup because it can tolerate the light and it is found within a certain coral in the wild (one reason why we shouldn't keep them due to the coral being destroyed in the process of collecting the animal!) But I really hope to get one specifically for my coral setup that I have planned down the track (every tank of mine has a mantis in it...even the septic tank LOL jkz).

It's large size, nice colors and ability to thrive in bright light just makes it perfect for what most people want to put a peacock in, there reef tank(s) and I dare say there far far more hardier too =).

i don't want to start and agrument here about reef preservation but consider this.
i got a g.t. from bluezoo for $30, considering i've seen a few pics of g.t.'s in pricilapora corals ill use them as a referance even though they are just about the cheepest hard corals to buy, even a brown pricillapora(4-5.5in) bearly big enuf to house a 2 inch g.t is listed on the same site for $50 so it doesn't make sence to me that a colector is going to smash a $50-$100 coral to get a $30 mantis. to me it seems more likely that the mantis is a byproduct of the coral colection.

[gpx1200]

oh yea, i allmost forgot yea g.t.'s are AWSOME i have a male/female pair i want to eventualy house togeather like minnie and maximus

[united417]

my mantis in my 5 gal, still unidentified..purple meral spot with a white circular outline.finally starting to get more active in the tank!will definitely post more soon

[gpx1200]

Originally Posted by united417

my mantis in my 5 gal, still unidentified..purple meral spot with a white circular outline.finally starting to get more active in the tank!will definitely post more soon

purple meral spot with a white ring can only be a smithii i think

[united417]

Originally Posted by gpx1200

purple meral spot with a white ring can only be a smithii i think

that was my initial conclusion, but i did a lot of searching on Roy's List, and N. Oerstedii has one as well.. but im relatively certain its a smithii, a female i think as i did not see any sexual organs, unlesss i missed em

[gpx1200]

how about the anteni scales, looks like the oerstedii"s is kind of speckeled while most pics of smithii's iv'e seen are mostly solid yello or green and my smithiis are golden yello.

[united417]

the anteni scales are greenish yellow not the speckled..also, dunno if it would help any but the swimmerets are very blue

[Dana42078]

iphone footage of todays feeding.

[swgunnell]

She's all settled in. Don't worry, I don't keep her under any sort of lighting, just wanted to snap a few photos.

[Dana42078]

[Kharn]

Latest Pics of Minnie & Maximus my mating pair of G.graphurus whom still live together peacefully.

MINNIE





MAXIMUS






I can supply good pics of Maximus and Minnie because of how there currently 'setup' being more towards the front of the tank and not being within containers like the others, which also enables them to mate and interact. Once my large setup is complete I will be able to provide this quality with all my other stomatopods too!

More to come =D

[Kharn]

Here are a few pics of Maximus & Minnie the G.graphurus pair.

Minnie





Minnie (Left) Maximus (Right in his home)



More to come

[Kharn]

Here are a couple other pics I just got from a bunch I took =) these were my 2 favorites from the bunch (deleted the rest), sometimes they just like to come out and flash for the camera and I cannot but help take lots of pics

This is a really nice portrait of Minnie I think


For some reason this pic of Maximus reminds me of Jaws the DVD covers for the series usually have the shark looking up towards the surface


More to come

[mndfreeze]

Amazing pics! I want your graphurus now.

My tern is just not as 'psychedelic mantis shrimp' as roys list claims!

[Kharn]

Originally Posted by mndfreeze

Amazing pics! I want your graphurus now.

My tern is just not as 'psychedelic mantis shrimp' as roys list claims!

It's a personality thing me thinks =)

I have just as many G.smithii in fact 4 if you count the mutant cousin Zuzu the Unique too and none of them are as interactive as Maximus or Minnie ='[

[Nightwitch]

The green on Minnie's legs - just wow!

I love their colors and they seem to have a lot of personality. Man, I so want a graphurus. Have you ever had a peacock, Kharn? They're what I have the most experience with. I'm wondering if the graphs are more or less active/interactive than peacocks, generally speaking.

[Hilary]

Kharn, they are absolutely gorgeous!

[Kharn]

Originally Posted by Nightwitch

The green on Minnie's legs - just wow!

I love their colors and they seem to have a lot of personality. Man, I so want a graphurus. Have you ever had a peacock, Kharn? They're what I have the most experience with. I'm wondering if the graphs are more or less active/interactive than peacocks, generally speaking.

Yeah her legs are like a Fluro Green in general though she is "Brighter" Then Maximus. They have a ton of personality and I have never had a O.scyllarus so I couldn't compare the 2 of them HOWEVER the one good thing about G.graphurus in comparison to O.scyllarus is there is NO SHELL ROT issues in G.graphurus since it is a tidal dwelling species spending most of its time rite up at the surface, which means it could be put into a brightly lit aquarium with corals and at Maximus size he wouldn't exactly "dissappear' you'd still see them a lot as they ALWAYS forage away from there burrows. This G.graphurus pair couldn't be any more interactive unless they sat down and actually spoke english to me ... O_O they give me so much entertainment.

One of the more interesting behaviours I have witnessed is Minnie dictating sex even though Maximus dwarfs her in size completely (meaning he could kill her easily yet he is completely obedient) one thing she enjoys doing is laying on her back in front of the den of Maximus putting her tail/butt rite into his face, then she fans with her swimmers rite into his face like giving off her pheromones, at this point Maximus doesn't look like he can contain himself anymore and he charges out and hops rite on and she starts to bang away they mate in many positions like us o_O.

I always stuff them with food too make sure there content and happy and never thinking of devouring one another, they can't "hide" food from me so what ever isn't eaten I always remove before it fouls the water. An interesting thing I have seen is Maximus will horde food FOR Minnie depending on who I feed first (I usually do Minnie first now) if I feed Maximus first, he won't start to eat it, just hold it and fiddle with it while Minnie (always noticing the comotion) comes over to find out what he got instead of her, realizing its food she just sits there as if waiting, then Maximus will release the food, it will roll to the floor outside his burrow and she will scoop it up and dart back to her rock in a flash. As I said though she only does that if I feed him first which I don't do anymore realizing this pattern.

Originally Posted by Hilary

Kharn, they are absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks for taking the time to comment they are a good couple =) I only hope it lasts rite through there lives.

I like to think of there relationship as an almost Human one =) its most mens dreams when they reach the ages of 40+ to have a hot young wife in her 20's (well so says my dad) in this circumstance it's very much so, Minnie is much smaller and younger then Maximus being the large old mantis that he is (personally he is too big...which makes me believe he is knocking on deaths door although he is still as quick/interactive as Minnie) but he's a lucky boy in some sense even though she is a dominatrix of some sorts

[Nightwitch]

I think it's fantastic that you're able to keep a couple together like that. I hope they have many more years of "fun" in your care. Keep posting pics and vids, we love seeing them.

[Kharn]

Latest sighting of Zuzu the Unique






More to come

[mndfreeze]

Originally Posted by Kharn

It's a personality thing me thinks =)

I have just as many G.smithii in fact 4 if you count the mutant cousin Zuzu the Unique too and none of them are as interactive as Maximus or Minnie ='[

Mine is really interactive, just not as COLORFUL as I expected!

[Kharn]

captured this nice pic of Leviathan this afternoon when I got home from work, found him perched up on the top of his Live Rock pile.

MUST get them out of there temp tank before its too late.....

[Dana42078]

Nice picture Kharn! Thanks for sharing!

[Arcus]

Originally Posted by Arcus

Does anyone know ID of my mantis? It is smasher, right? Male of female?
Its about 1 inch (2,5cm)...

I still dont know ID of my mantis. Please help

[Dana42078]

Feeding day...someone was HUNGRY