Species id

ThunderGoose · Feb 1, 2018

I haven't been able to get a good picture of my new beauty but I found this image on the Tampa Bay Saltwater site (I got my rock from them) and it looks very much like mine. Any idea about species? (yes I checked Roy's stomatopod page and I'm still not sure)

Mine is a feisty little thing. I have started target feeding her by putting some clam on a bamboo skewer. I guess I put the piece on too firmly the other day and she wrapped herself around the skewer and tugged and didn't mind that I pulled the skewer our of the shadow of the rock to get a better look! I think I'm really gonna like my girl.

NHreefguy · Feb 1, 2018

Looks like a mantis shrimp to me. How big is it?

ThunderGoose · Feb 1, 2018

I'm confident she's a mantis shrimp (hence posting in the mantis shrimp forum). I'm just curious about species. I'd like to know things like how big she'll get.

Right now she's about 2 inches long but I suspect she's still growing. After all I didn't see her for the first 6 months she was in the tank and now I see her most days.

NHreefguy · Feb 1, 2018

I didn't even realize it was in the mantis forum haha. Still cool none the less!

AlexG · Feb 6, 2018

ThunderGoose said:
I haven't been able to get a good picture of my new beauty but I found this image on the Tampa Bay Saltwater site (I got my rock from them) and it looks very much like mine. Any idea about species? (yes I checked Roy's stomatopod page and I'm still not sure)

Mine is a feisty little thing. I have started target feeding her by putting some clam on a bamboo skewer. I guess I put the piece on too firmly the other day and she wrapped herself around the skewer and tugged and didn't mind that I pulled the skewer our of the shadow of the rock to get a better look! I think I'm really gonna like my girl.

It looks like its a Neogonodactylus wennerae. If you look at Roy's list and the color variations for this species this coloration is possible. Plus if you know it was a hitchhiker from TBS then it increases the odd that it is this species as it is native to the Caribbean area.

ThunderGoose · Feb 6, 2018

AlexG said:
It looks like its a Neogonodactylus wennerae. If you look at Roy's list and the color variations for this species this coloration is possible. Plus if you know it was a hitchhiker from TBS then it increases the odd that it is this species as it is native to the Caribbean area.

Awesome. Thanks! There's quite a list of options so it's been a challenge to try to figure this out.

The sad part is that if it's N. wennerae she won't stay red. Darn. She's quite pretty right now.

Leviathan_XE · Feb 8, 2018

She can stay red, just use lower levels of light

Leviathan_XE · Feb 8, 2018

Red coloration can stay, just use lower light

cracker · Feb 8, 2018

I got my obligatory Red Mantis with TBS rock as well !

TheMantisman · Feb 19, 2018

Mantis Shrimp and coloration is yet to be fully understood...

Some species like the L.mac's never change from black and yellow color patterns (there are other species that look like L.mac's but are not...L.mac's and they are different colors to).
Same thing goes with the O.scy (Peacocks) they never really change much from either dominant green or dominant red.

As for the Neogonodactyloids & Gonodactyloids (and other Nanno/Para/etc) can vary incredibly in coloration but still come from the exact same species.

Some individuals will even undergo a process called hyper-polymorphism where after they have molted they may come out in a uniform patternless FLURO BRIGHT color like Turquoise (this can often mean death in the wild as they stand out like Albinos and thus lose some of their opportunistic capabilities.

As for in aquariums the hyper-polymorphism will pass typically with the following molt, reverting back into their "normal" coloration.

I have never in the +10yrs of keeping mantis shrimp ever heard of LIGHTS being the affect of animal coloration...so I take that info with a grain of salt, I even did long term experiments with my animals to see if the environment could be the factor I effectively removed everything from the tanks until just glass water and PVC burrow then I lined the sides and base with an acrylic coloration, no change was ever observed in the animals color, they do not alter their color to "better hide".

As to the O.P. I can't state 100% what exact species it is (without more pics)
But I can state 100% that your mantis will get to either 70mm or 90mm max size as it is either a Gono(90mm) or Neogono(70mm) small smasher species.

Hope this helps a bit