Anyone want a 2' Mantis Shrimp

[poor_reefer]

I just got a shipment of liverock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and there is a 2' mantis chipping away at the rock. I plan on catching him in the next couple of days and want to check to see if anyone is interested before I call around to the local fish stores. I would love to trade/sell him for a few bucks or for a frag, but want to see if anyone is interested. Cheers.

[jason the filter freak]

what is your location, if you're local I can provide you with a frag

Edited May 2, 2009 by jason the filter freak

[L8 2 RISE]

I just got a shipment of liverock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and there is a 2' mantis chipping away at the rock. I plan on catching him in the next couple of days and want to check to see if anyone is interested before I call around to the local fish stores. I would love to trade/sell him for a few bucks or for a frag, but want to see if anyone is interested. Cheers.

 

 

TWO FEET??!! Thats crazy! If only I had a tank.. Any idea on the species? Coloration?

[jason the filter freak]

I'm guessing he/she just didn't hold down shift my friend and got ' instead of "shift + '" = "

[lanman]

I'm guessing he/she just didn't hold down shift my friend and got ' instead of "shift + '" = "

 

Well won't YOU be surprised!! He did say it ate a few rocks...

 

bob

[Origami]

TWO FEET??!! Thats crazy! If only I had a tank.. Any idea on the species? Coloration?

 

Probably only 2" ... most likely species from TBS is Gonodactylus smithii. I've had one in a small 10 gallon tank for over 18 months now. He also came to me as a hitchhiker with some TBS rock.

[Old Man]

If it is a smithii, nice pickup!!

[Origami]

Another really common one is N. Wennerae.

[Hoyden]

Probably only 2" ... most likely species from TBS is Gonodactylus smithii. I've had one in a small 10 gallon tank for over 18 months now. He also came to me as a hitchhiker with some TBS rock.

 

You got a smithii from Tampa Bay Saltwater? G smithii is an indo-pacific species. I'd think that you are much more likely to find N osterdii - a carribean species that has a purple meral spot (like G smithii). Does the meral spot have a white ring? Do you see a red knob at the base of the uropods?

 

 

I have a N wennerae that came from TBS rock. I have been looking for a G smithii for almost a year. They are pretty hard to find.

 

Jackie

Edited May 4, 2009 by Hoyden

[Origami]

You got a smithii from Tampa Bay Saltwater? G smithii is an indo-pacific species. I'd think that you are much more likely to find N osterdii - a carribean species that has a purple meral spot (like G smithii). Does the meral spot have a white ring? Do you see a red knob at the base of the uropods?

 

 

I have a N wennerae that came from TBS rock. I have been looking for a G smithii for almost a year. They are pretty hard to find.

 

Jackie

 

You're right. Can't be a smithii - Wennerae is what I was thinking and what was pulled from their rock (several of them originally) well over a year ago. Very common. I pulled several of them. Most were small but one was upwards of 3 inches long and close to 1/2" wide.

[FishyTim]

If it's 2 feet, you better start running for your lives!

[Dell2go]

If it's indeed 2 feet, that's dinner. And this thing tastes just like lobster. I think it's even better.

[Hoyden]

In Roatan, I found N wennerae amd N oerstedii living in very close proximity. Makes me think that we should be seeing both in the (carribean) gulf rock that TBS offers. I have expanded my mantis want list to include a N oerstedii .

 

Jackie

[Mich]

2' could you imagine? especially if it was a smasher like smithii, wennerae, and the like. Forget 'thumb splitter' more like a skull 'crusher'.

[Origami]

Some guy on scubaboard posted this one some time ago. He found it off Phuket, Thailand and claims it was a foot long.

 

 

Not two feet, but still huge.

[Stephen]

That guy on bizarre foods on the travel channel was eating them at least a foot long (if not 16-18") in a episode I caught last week sometime.

[Hoyden]

That guy on bizarre foods on the travel channel was eating them at least a foot long (if not 16-18") in a episode I caught last week sometime.

 

L maculata is a spearer that gets to be 16" - it is the largest of the stomatopods. I really hope to see one when I go to Indonesia next year (in the ocean, not on a plate).