Mantis Shrimp Mayhem
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TheMantisman
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Mantis Shrimp are everything to me they are my daily life and have been for over 10yrs now and I do a LOT more than just make forum posts / photos / videos, everything I do is related to mantis shrimp and comes from an extension of my knowledge with them, I'm also a silversmith(mantis shrimp jewellery), novelist(currently writing a super hero novel about 'Mantisman'), comic artist (a more illustrated version of the novel(s)) and more!
Thanks for the friendly words
I don't just make 'documentary' style videos either, sometimes when I have gathered enough good footage I compile it into 'music videos' with effects and other fancy things.This is an 'older' music compilation that I made a year or so back
with original footage from my early days (so the footage isn't as clean as current videos since my equipment back then was inferior).<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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TheMantisman
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Another 'different' kind of video I put together (just the subtitles) most of you might of seen different parodies of this scene with Hitler.
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Very interesting and very insightful to watch a couple of the videos considering this is one thing that I am scared to death of and getting in live rock lol. I dont know why but mantis shrimp give me the willies. Its so nice to see one that loves them
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TheMantisman
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I'm currently working on a unique video which is proving to be a bit funny.
Recording various Mantis Shrimp (Peacocks) reactions to their reflections when a mirror is placed in the tank in front of them, mantis shrimp have highly individualistic personalities so even though members might be from the same direct family (Odontodactylus Scyllarus) their personalities vary greatly!
In order to capture the footage as best I can I have 2 cameras setup per mantis shrimp inside the aquarium itself, a Birdseye Perspective and a Side Perspective, I will compile the videos once I have finished recordings.
Recording various Mantis Shrimp (Peacocks) reactions to their reflections when a mirror is placed in the tank in front of them, mantis shrimp have highly individualistic personalities so even though members might be from the same direct family (Odontodactylus Scyllarus) their personalities vary greatly!
In order to capture the footage as best I can I have 2 cameras setup per mantis shrimp inside the aquarium itself, a Birdseye Perspective and a Side Perspective, I will compile the videos once I have finished recordings.
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TheMantisman
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Funny you say that because when I go to the odd LFS most of the time I spend looking at their live rock tanks instead of their fish/coral tanks on display, just trying to catch a glimpse of the inevitable mantis shrimp that likely lives in there.
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TheMantisman
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Mantis Shrimp come in all shapes and sizes some are small 10mm-20mm long but hardly considered threats to anything but amphipods and stomatella, it's these small species that are often found as hitchhikers up to 90mm species because they are also VERY hardy and can survive the curing processes that live rock undergoes prior to selling.
MarsRover
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Hello
Some may already know me (from ReefCentral) most likely don't know me.
However I am a Mantis Shrimp Publicist in the form of High Quality photos and High Quality videos of which I create through a lot of time, effort and expenses, I do not use mobile phones to photograph or film my mantis shrimp but high quality camera equipment that I have purchased to specifically capture mantis shrimp in all the ways I possibly can.
It's my intent to keep all my photos / videos uploads to a specific area, a.k.a this particular thread/post itself to make it easy for anyone interested in browsing will have it all neatly in an easy to find location.
Just curious if the fine people of this small 'Invert' group within this forum would be interested in myself posting my photo and video creations specifically and solely of Mantis Shrimp?
Below are a couple of samples of my most recent works, I hope to find a friendly and accommodating community here to share my hard works with!
Wow! Feel bad for the crab. But it's life I guess. My favorite part is when mantis is all done making its kill, just scoops up the crabby and dives into its home.
Fascinating thank you!
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TheMantisman
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I can certainly understand how some people view sympathy for the crabs and I don't try to comfort them really...but I do try to keep things as natural as I can, so even IF the mantis shrimp for whatever reason is about to be killed by the crab that was intended to be its meal...I will not intervene because it goes against me trying to keep it natural.
I'm not implying your a hater so don't get me wrong but what I do normally tell people is rather than focusing on what is happening think about what I COULD do but haven't done and will never do a.k.a I could put any small live creature into the aquarium like...a mouse and the mantis shrimp is likely to kill it but it serves me no purpose because it isn't natural, mantis shrimp do not find mice on the reef to eat...So I like to comfort myself at times with the self understanding that I COULD do really 'sick' things but I NEVER will because it goes against my morals.
It's not about killing, it's about a natural replication and the reason I do it in a controlled environment (aquarium) is because it allows me to capture footage that you just simply cannot capture in the wild.
Thanks for the warm welcome!
I've just finished up this evening filming my 6 individual peacocks capturing and consuming 6 ghost crabs so there will be more videos coming tomorrow!
I'm really enjoying this forum and the community very engaging, I find it depressing to go to the lengths I do to make high quality photos/videos etc and post it freely online for people to enjoy specifically in forums only for the forums to be silent to my efforts (RC) hence I move on and look for others that will openly appreciate my hard works!
I love the details you can see on the picture. The colors are so vibrant and everything is so detailed. Please continue to share these beautiful pictures. I'd love to own one but I already have my tanks (4) stocked so unless I loose everything in one of my tanks or I set up another I won't be getting one. I have a 150 gallon tall reef tank that I added a tiger pistol shrimp too. I never seen him since I added him. I have a large mound of rock in the back and that's where he chose to reside. I only know he's still in there because he does his popping sound several times a day and it is so loud you can hear it overtop the TV, grandkids playing and crying etc. if I didn't know better I'd swear he was a mantis! Thanks for the great pic and video
Last time I followed you on RC you were making a massive system, but you were out of country, and the locals were not doing the best job.
Has this system progressed or are you going to stick with your one bank system?
Has this system progressed or are you going to stick with your one bank system?
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TheMantisman
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Mantis Shrimp and Pistol Shrimp are easy for me to distinguish between, the sound a pistol shrimp makes is static and consistent the sound a mantis shrimp makes varies a lot depending on the surface their striking because its a physical contact (pistol shrimp clicks its claw to shoot a burst of super heated air bubbles, it's claw doesn't make contact with anything so it always sounds the same). I use to find loadss of pistol shrimp down on the mudflats under rocks when I look for crabs.
It has been a nightmare...its taken me 3 years to finally get the system up running and stable (no cracks/ no leaks) because I finally found a WESTERN aquarium builder who understands the needs that go into a large aquarium system but it is finally up and running 100% hence why I have just started to upload new videos / photos.
I'm leaving here on 16th of June to renew my visa but will be back around 16th July/Early August so THIS time I will finally be able to get a solid 6 months of photography and filming because in the past I've only been able to get 2-3months because the first 3-4months I've always had to rebuild the system/get new tanks.
But even this is temporary once I've achieved my goal here I'll be going back to Aus full time and building my 'grand master piece' (lol) which will also incorporate a large (2ft-3ft) octopus species into the build as well because I want to get a little diversity and Octopus are very photogenic like Mantis Shrimp.
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TheMantisman
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Video Processing is a slow process...
Because I use no less than 3 cameras simultaneously and with 6 different animals and in High Quality I often accumulate between 50GB - 60GB of footage every filming sitting that I need to then do post production and work through.
I have a collection of HardDrives that I use to backup all my footage/photos on at the moment I have just under 3000GB of .RAW footage which I backup 3x on 3 different external HardDrives in the past (my earliest footage) was ALL lost due to HardDrive failures making the footage irretrievable... but I have since learned from those costly mistakes...unfortunately though that means I no longer have any of my early days videos which were interesting (although poor quality).
Because I use no less than 3 cameras simultaneously and with 6 different animals and in High Quality I often accumulate between 50GB - 60GB of footage every filming sitting that I need to then do post production and work through.
I have a collection of HardDrives that I use to backup all my footage/photos on at the moment I have just under 3000GB of .RAW footage which I backup 3x on 3 different external HardDrives in the past (my earliest footage) was ALL lost due to HardDrive failures making the footage irretrievable... but I have since learned from those costly mistakes...unfortunately though that means I no longer have any of my early days videos which were interesting (although poor quality).
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TheMantisman
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While I'm working on Post Production Editing here are some photos that you might find interesting.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Telson (used just like a Shield for defense).
Uropods (the peacock colored 'feathers' to the sides).
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Egg Sack (thousands of eggs, females carry them with their maxillipeds, they constantly move the eggs to keep water going through them and to 'drop' any individuals that are not healthy, if threatened the female will stash her eggs in the burrow then return to confront the threat, once the threat is gone she will pick up her egg sack and continue to 'groom' it).
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Dactyl (Hammer/Dactyl, the weapon of the Smashing Mantis Shrimp, you can see in these photos that the hammer is not 'invincible' as this one is quite heavily damaged, but this damage was done by the mantis shrimp itself because with every action their must be a reaction, the damage this Hammer/Dactyl has sustained was not done with 1 or 2 punches but thousands, every time a smashing mantis strikes a target it creates a micro fracture in its hammer (also from Cavitation) overtime this weakens the Hammer/Dactyl and it starts to 'fall apart' but where we humans need to 'buy a new boat propeller' the mantis shrimp merely molts and has a brand new pair of Hammer/Dactyl ready to 'rock n roll' with.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Telson (used just like a Shield for defense).
Uropods (the peacock colored 'feathers' to the sides).
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Egg Sack (thousands of eggs, females carry them with their maxillipeds, they constantly move the eggs to keep water going through them and to 'drop' any individuals that are not healthy, if threatened the female will stash her eggs in the burrow then return to confront the threat, once the threat is gone she will pick up her egg sack and continue to 'groom' it).
Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus Scyllarus).
Dactyl (Hammer/Dactyl, the weapon of the Smashing Mantis Shrimp, you can see in these photos that the hammer is not 'invincible' as this one is quite heavily damaged, but this damage was done by the mantis shrimp itself because with every action their must be a reaction, the damage this Hammer/Dactyl has sustained was not done with 1 or 2 punches but thousands, every time a smashing mantis strikes a target it creates a micro fracture in its hammer (also from Cavitation) overtime this weakens the Hammer/Dactyl and it starts to 'fall apart' but where we humans need to 'buy a new boat propeller' the mantis shrimp merely molts and has a brand new pair of Hammer/Dactyl ready to 'rock n roll' with.
