My new mantis, Odontodactylus scyllarus

Goliath

Arachnodemon
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May 19, 2004
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I love mantis shrimp, here is my new female peacock.
Mike
 

Philth

N.Y.H.C.
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pretty cool,..I have ben considering one of those.....although I have never kept a SW animal before. now that i think about it, I never kept fish, fresh or salt. How hard would it be to keep on of those in a small(5 gallon) tank?
 

galeogirl

Arachnoprince
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Aug 15, 2002
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What a cool looking shrimp, it really does look like a mantis. How hard are they to keep? Any plans to try to breed them?
 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
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Feb 16, 2005
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awsome! mantis shrimp are very cool. i hope the tank can withstand it's claws, though.
 

roach dude

Arachnobaron
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Jan 5, 2005
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B E A utiful wat an owsome shrimp how big is it?? how long to they live for ? how much it cost u???
 

Randolph XX()

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Aug 10, 2004
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awesome!but i know those can break thinner glass(my fd kept one in a gold fish bowl, and it puched through the glass), so better have some thicker glass tanks.
 

Goliath

Arachnodemon
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Thanks everyone. The female is about 4", they live about 5 yrs, and she cost me $35. They are very capable of breaking through glass especially when they get large, ~7"-9". Acrylic tanks are very good for these as they will not shatter like glass, or just a thick walled tank. They are fairly robust inverts and can take a variety of water conditions, just keep them in water that would be good enough for a reef tank and it will do fine. The only thing to make sure is that the water does not contain copper as it is fatal to marine inverts. Smaller species could be kept in 5 gallon acrylics without any problem. My friend has a male so we may try to breed them some time in the future.
Mike
 

Randolph XX()

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i am not very familiar with the species of the mantis shrimps, but i know some of them have knocles on the claws to help them puch the shell or sea snails, i've seen a fottage of one puch through a big clam and it just broke right in the middle, the thickest part of the clam!
 

Goliath

Arachnodemon
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May 19, 2004
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Yes, this species has those, species with that appendage are often called "smashers", while ones without it that have claws that resemble a true mantid are called "spearers". They have a lot of pack to their punch and are very capable of breaking through a large clam.
Here are some pictures of "smashers" and "spearers", a good source of info ishttp://www.blueboard.com/mantis/
"smasher"
"spearer"
"spearer"
Mike
 
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