Mantis Shrimp: likelihood of a tank break

ScottsTanks · Dec 11, 2014

ritter6788 said:
Very possible to determine male/female and easy to do in larger stomatopods. Some can breed in captivity but the larvae are impossible to raise since they are cannibalistic.

Are they like crayfish in that male have claspers on the underside of their tail section?

ritter6788 · Dec 11, 2014

ScottsTanks said:
Are they like crayfish in that male have claspers on the underside of their tail section?

Near the last pair of walking legs underneath you can see 2 "sticks" if it's male. The females won't have them.

SantaMonicaHelp · Dec 12, 2014

ritter6788 said:
Very possible to determine male/female and easy to do in larger stomatopods. If you look underneath the animal near the last pair of walking legs, males will have 2 "sticks", females will not.

Some can breed in captivity but the larvae are impossible to raise since they are cannibalistic.

wow didn't know that! great info thanks

treemanone2003 · Dec 13, 2014

SantaMonicaHelp said:
Pretty cool thread guys.... the mantis shrimp is definitely cool. Can you have a couple in one tank? male/female?

Yes, the mantis is definitely cool !! Although there are many others more knowledgable than I about them, I can say from all my readings, it is possible. From what I understand it will only be a m/f pair and not m/m or f/f. Some will have a "monogamous" relationship while others may only mate once or twice in a lifetime. It's also possible that in the attempt to mate (or right after mating, not sure) one may kill the other. As well, some species of females
will "hold" the sperm for quite some time before dropping eggs. With over 400 species, there's many different possibilities of what can be expected. The largest on record was somewhere around 17-18" and located in (I think) Florida. A multitude of colors and can live over 15 years. I've also read from a few sources (but you can't believe it all) something about having an ability to detect cancer cells and they can be very docile.

SantaMonicaHelp · Dec 18, 2014

treemanone2003 said:
Yes, the mantis is definitely cool !! Although there are many others more knowledgable than I about them, I can say from all my readings, it is possible. From what I understand it will only be a m/f pair and not m/m or f/f. Some will have a "monogamous" relationship while others may only mate once or twice in a lifetime. It's also possible that in the attempt to mate (or right after mating, not sure) one may kill the other. As well, some species of females
will "hold" the sperm for quite some time before dropping eggs. With over 400 species, there's many different possibilities of what can be expected. The largest on record was somewhere around 17-18" and located in (I think) Florida. A multitude of colors and can live over 15 years. I've also read from a few sources (but you can't believe it all) something about having an ability to detect cancer cells and they can be very docile.

Amazing stuff. I'll have to do more research. The mantis shrimp is definitely a new favorite for me

ScottsTanks · Jan 1, 2015

Quick update:
Live rock and PVC in place. I've got my name on the special order list at my LFS for a peacock mantis. Going to pick up a tiny CUC and a bit more rock to fill in the gaps this weekend.