Odontodactylus Scyllarus

[Scott Allen]

The peacock mantis shrimp - a member of the family Stomatopoda


This is mine, will be here thursday!!!!!





The stomatopods are extremely interesting because:


Diver Watch by Oscar Braun
They use specialized raptorial appendages to capture and subdue prey by either "spearing" the animals or "smashing" them with heavily calcified clubs. The force of the strike of a large Californian species approaches that of a 22 caliber bullet, and is capable of breaking double layered safety glass. They are, weight for weight, probably the most formidable animals alive.


A stomatopod, Nannosquilla decemspinosa, uses an active, wheel-like motion of its entire body to roll along beaches. It is the only macroscopic creature known that uses active wheel-like motions for locomotion.


Stomatopod strikes are the one of the fastest known movements in the animal kingdom. Although existing in a medium significantly denser than air, their strikes are 10 times faster than those of the land-based Praying Mantis. The raptorial appendages of stomatopod spearers can go from full rest to a speed of 10 meters/second in 4-8 milliseconds.


Stomatopods have the most sophisticated visual system in the world. The stomatopod eye contains 16 different types of photoreceptors (12 for color analysis, compared to humanity's 3 cones). Mantis shrimps can thus see polarized light and 4 colors of UV (ultraviolet) light, and they may also be able to distinguish up to 100,000 colors (compared to the 10,000 seen by human beings).


Stomatopods are the only invertebrates in which individual recognition has been strongly documented for non-mated individuals. This simply means that some stomatopods are capable of distinguishing one individual in the species from other individuals, and then act accordingly.


Stomatopod communication has one of the fastest information transmission rates in the animal kingdom. During aggressive interactions between mantis shrimps, rates of transmission can be as high as 8.6 bits per second, compared to an average of 1.5 bits per second for hermit crabs, 1.4 bits/s for fire ant pheromone trails, and 2 bits/s for the honeybee dance. As a comparison, one study found that human speech has transmission rates of 6-12 bits/sec!


Some stomatopods are monogamous, one of the few invertebrates (or animals in general for that matter) that manifests this practice. Dr. Roy Caldwell notes that he has followed a monogamous pair of Lysiosquillina maculata for nearly 15 years.


Stomatopods are widely-used as an effective way to measure the health of coral reefs. "Stomatopod abundance, diversity and recruitment are very negatively correlated with sediment concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and certain heavy metals, and with surrogate measures of sewage and agrochemical runoff contamination " (Steger and Caldwell, 1993; Erdmann and Caldwell, in press).

[Gerwin]

its amazing how this super intelligent sea creature was caught by a 110 lbs girl with a piece of rotten shrimp and a net............yep he's one smart shrimp

[Sandy]

AND,,,,,, GIRLS RULE!!!!!

[Scott Allen]

Determination and spite are powerful motivators. She wasn't going to let YOU be right after all!

[Jessi84]

LMAO...I love you guys! Thanks for the support...Yeah...those who've doubted my master catching skills got TOLD yesterday ... I caught her.
She's doing good...just a little angry cause she's in my reef overflow till I rid the 150 of cupramine...that was almost a disaster I totally forgot I'd dosed the tank about a month ago

[guitarest]

So where was this caught? I want one for my tank of native fish. I know they do not get along any crabs and such so the crabs will be gone today also. I have asked a few shrimpers and bait guys to look out for one of these but those guys cant be bothers with the request of one crazy person..... lol

Also its been a few weeks since yu have had this lil critter, are they as aggressive as the videos on youtube? I know most of those individuals are very dumb and usually make the mantis attack wondering how they act in a supervised and stable environment.

[Scott Allen]

So where was this caught? I want one for my tank of native fish. I know they do not get along any crabs and such so the crabs will be gone today also. I have asked a few shrimpers and bait guys to look out for one of these but those guys cant be bothers with the request of one crazy person..... lol

Also its been a few weeks since yu have had this lil critter, are they as aggressive as the videos on youtube? I know most of those individuals are very dumb and usually make the mantis attack wondering how they act in a supervised and stable environment.

Hehe.. well. Jessi caught hers in the Just FIsh reef tank. I caught mine from a specialty vendor on the net. As far as I know we don't have any indigenous species of Stomatopod.

[Scott Allen]

Mine only came in yesterday. So far all he has done is dig his burrow and watch me move about. I threw a hermit in there this morning, but he hasn't left the burrow to chase it. I think he's going to take a few days to acclimate and feel safe.

On a positive note, my two clowns just paired up (like while I was sitting here lol)!!!! They are sharing the bubble-tip anemone. So the tank is coming together exactly as I had hoped! Maroon clown pair with host anemone and peacock mantis shrimp!

[bluwtr]

Actually we do have mantis shrimp here in the gulf. The most common species is Squilla empusa, simply called "mantis shrimp or common mantis shrimp". I've seen tons of them in shrimp trawls. They are not at all colorful like the peacock species however. They have a clearish/opaque body and get to about 6 inches long. Supposedly they are VERY good to eat, tasting very much like lobster--can't verify though.

[Tyler]

everything sounds interesting when you use scientific terms and talk about it like its the last of a dying breed. sell new cars not used ones.

[guitarest]

Actually we do have mantis shrimp here in the gulf. The most common species is Squilla empusa, simply called "mantis shrimp or common mantis shrimp". I've seen tons of them in shrimp trawls. They are not at all colorful like the peacock species however. They have a clearish/opaque body and get to about 6 inches long. Supposedly they are VERY good to eat, tasting very much like lobster--can't verify though.

I remember when I was in my teens and I would go shrimping with my father on a weekly basis. We would catch these guys all the time although I do not remember if they were still alive or not. I guess what I would love to do is have a tank of ugly fish and crustations that most people think are trash fish.

A very fine example is the hard head catfish that I have had since the BP Spill and he/she was maybe 2 inches long and actually somewhat cute. This is one fat catfish now who grabs food from my hand and when I open oysters and put them in the tank that sent get him going and its a race between him and the blue crabs to get the fresh meat. Most the time the Spade Fish will beat both of them to the food since that fish is nothing more than a huge garbage disposal. The Catfish act very much like a shark in swimming motion and locating food. These tanks are very relaxing except when I have to swap water which is maybe 30 gal a month.

[Scott Allen]

Actually we do have mantis shrimp here in the gulf. The most common species is Squilla empusa, simply called "mantis shrimp or common mantis shrimp". I've seen tons of them in shrimp trawls. They are not at all colorful like the peacock species however. They have a clearish/opaque body and get to about 6 inches long. Supposedly they are VERY good to eat, tasting very much like lobster--can't verify though.

Ha, after doing some more research we have Hoplocarida as well. It makes sense that they would do well here. There vision is better than any creature on earth, they are probably able to see prey crystal clear even in our muddy waters.

[Scott Allen]

everything sounds interesting when you use scientific terms and talk about it like its the last of a dying breed. sell new cars not used ones.

To each there own. I think they are very interesting. And make no mistake, I sell as many used cars as I do new!

[Scott Allen]

Actually we do have mantis shrimp here in the gulf. The most common species is Squilla empusa, simply called "mantis shrimp or common mantis shrimp". I've seen tons of them in shrimp trawls. They are not at all colorful like the peacock species however. They have a clearish/opaque body and get to about 6 inches long. Supposedly they are VERY good to eat, tasting very much like lobster--can't verify though.

I remember when I was in my teens and I would go shrimping with my father on a weekly basis. We would catch these guys all the time although I do not remember if they were still alive or not. I guess what I would love to do is have a tank of ugly fish and crustations that most people think are trash fish.

A very fine example is the hard head catfish that I have had since the BP Spill and he/she was maybe 2 inches long and actually somewhat cute. This is one fat catfish now who grabs food from my hand and when I open oysters and put them in the tank that sent get him going and its a race between him and the blue crabs to get the fresh meat. Most the time the Spade Fish will beat both of them to the food since that fish is nothing more than a huge garbage disposal. The Catfish act very much like a shark in swimming motion and locating food. These tanks are very relaxing except when I have to swap water which is maybe 30 gal a month.

I really like your tank concept. Everything in there has a story and is local. Have you had any problem acclimating them from the gulf to your tank?

[guitarest]

Actually now that I have way more experience I have no problems at all. Some of this experience was acquired by fish dying and others by asking Gerwin and others here. My tanks are not actually salt they are brackish and they usually sit between 1.4 and 1.7 salt level. I do change the salt level monthly but it always sits between those points.

When I decide to get a few new tank members I always bring my 5 gal bucket and battery air pump. As I am walking in the surf if I pass through some cold water I grab the chilly water in the bucket and I keep trips down to a hour or lower. When I get home I already have another bucket ready with tank water and the process is about 30 minutes from Gulf water to tank water. Its always done after fish have been fed and so far my only deaths have still been the green striped minnows who usually die soon after they are netted. Shrimp are hardy and last forever, the blemmies and gobi's are also very hardy and rarely die. The spade fish freak out real quick and even swapping water on a monthly basis the Spade fish freaks out and starts turning black. I have about a 30 minute threshold and this is what I believe is the point of no return. I just took some pics will post them today of the current tank.