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Let's see some mantis shrimp!
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What will be a good Mantis for a 5-10g glass tank? Thanks!
N. wennerae
Thank you! I think this is your vid:

I rescued this little guy from a LFS yesterday...the guy laughed when I asked to buy him! I would rescue all the Stomatopods if I could
Still need to ID him, but he is doing well so far!
*Edit: After going through "Roy's List", I think he might be a Gonodactylus smithii
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I have been living in the Philippines for almost a decade, and for the last couple of years I have been living on a small private island while working on a small lobster hatchery project here in Day-asan, Surigao City. If you have been looking at lobster videos on YouTube then the odds are you have come across one of my YouTube videos.
A while back I posted a short video of some live-captured stomatopods which were caught mere yards from the shoreline of this island. The fishermen come to my wife's little day resort to collect empty soda bottles which they use to safely contain and handle the the mantis shrimp they catch. These are then sold to buyers for 1,000php per kilo (1,000 grams) dry weight at the local markets. The fishermen will work in teams of 2-3 men and use nylon fishing line snare traps which are set on the sea floor. These are quite similar to a snare trap used to catch rabbits and other small game. They simply set a dozen or more snares and check these traps every couple of hours. None of the stomatopods I have seen were ever physically injured by these nylon snare traps.
I figure some readers might enjoy the video from the land of the never ending Summer.
.
So, are people buying them for food at market, or as pets? Also, rather amazed at how they got some of those big boys into those bottles! I wonder what they taste like...I have been living in the Philippines for almost a decade, and for the last couple of years I have been living on a small private island while working on a small lobster hatchery project here in Day-asan, Surigao City. If you have been looking at lobster videos on YouTube then the odds are you have come across one of my YouTube videos.
A while back I posted a short video of some live-captured stomatopods which were caught mere yards from the shoreline of this island. The fishermen come to my wife's little day resort to collect empty soda bottles which they use to safely contain and handle the the mantis shrimp they catch. These are then sold to buyers for 1,000php per kilo (1,000 grams) dry weight at the local markets. The fishermen will work in teams of 2-3 men and use nylon fishing line snare traps which are set on the sea floor. These are quite similar to a snare trap used to catch rabbits and other small game. They simply set a dozen or more snares and check these traps every couple of hours. None of the stomatopods I have seen were ever physically injured by these nylon snare traps.
I figure some readers might enjoy the video from the land of the never ending Summer.
.
So, are people buying them for food at market, or as pets? Also, rather amazed at how they got some of those big boys into those bottles! I wonder what they taste like...
Well I am glad that you found the video of intrestWell there’s one I’ve never seen before. Thanks for posting here.
Not like chicken. ;ChickenSo, are people buying them for food at market, or as pets? Also, rather amazed at how they got some of those big boys into those bottles! I wonder what they taste like...
Those individuals shown in the video are actually medium sized in both length and weight. When asking the locals just who large they have caught them, they commonly say the size of a man's forearm in both length and width, or say the size of a (2nd market size) lobster. The 2nd market size lobster is an individual exceeding 1,ooo grams (dry-weight). So these tasty little sea bugs can get to be pretty big.I feel bad for the shrimp - bad way to spend your last hours trapped in a small bottle. It does show how large these guys are though.
The locals prize them over the locally grown Panulirus ornatus (Tiger' Rock Lobster) has been proven to be superior in texture and taste to the clawed cold-water species of North America and Europe. Sorry Maine Lobster diehards but the 'Tiger' Rock Lobster taste sweeter and yields 38% more eatable meat per comparative sized individual. And if you like the lobster tails at the local 'Red Lobster' restaurant than the odds were then you have already enjoyed some 'Tiger' lobster. Now I personally have never eaten Mantis Shrimp before myself but I intend on raising a few in a 'grow-out' net and perhaps at a later date try to actually breed them and raise them from egg to marketable sub-adult and adult size individuals. I have already designed the floating net cage system to raise 'slipper' lobster in the hatchery facility, so I could experiment with photoperiodism and water temperature manipulation to learn the optimum conditions for Mantis Shrimp needed to simulate their breeding cycles.I've heard it's very good and they make sushi out of it as well. I would like to try some if I could find it.
Well I am glad that you found the video of intrest
Not like chicken. ;Chicken
These are being live-captured for buyers, most likely either local fish markets or for 'grow-out' aquaculture facilities who will then export them. The taste I am told has a creamer texture and sweetness than the prized Panulirus ornatus ('Tiger' Rock Lobster). Here in the Philippines there are numerous species of lobsters found in the waters around these 7,100 plus islands, amd of these there are primary eight species of lobster used for 'grow-out' aquaculture. These are the Panulirus homarus (Scalloped or Cancer homarus), Panulirus japonicas (Japanese Spiny), Panulirus longipes (Long-legged Spiny), Panulirus penicillatus (Grey Cray), Panulirus polyphagus (Mud Spiny), Panulirus stimpsoni (Chinese Spiny), Panulirus versicolor (Bamboo or Painted Spiny), and the most prized Panulirus ornatus (Tiger, Ornate Spiny or Tropical Rock). The Panulirus ornatus (Tiger) is the species I specialize in and the species which brings the highest prices in the markets of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, S. Korea and Japan. And the Mantis Shrimp is desired most my the locals here in the Philippines as they believe the taste is more desirable to that of the 'Tiger' Rock Lobster.
Those individuals shown in the video are actually medium sized in both length and weight. When asking the locals just who large they have caught them, they commonly say the size of a man's forearm in both length and width, or say the size of a (2nd market size) lobster. The 2nd market size lobster is an individual exceeding 1,ooo grams (dry-weight). So these tasty little sea bugs can get to be pretty big.
The locals prize them over the locally grown Panulirus ornatus (Tiger' Rock Lobster) has been proven to be superior in texture and taste to the clawed cold-water species of North America and Europe. Sorry Maine Lobster diehards but the 'Tiger' Rock Lobster taste sweeter and yields 38% more eatable meat per comparative sized individual. And if you like the lobster tails at the local 'Red Lobster' restaurant than the odds were then you have already enjoyed some 'Tiger' lobster. Now I personally have never eaten Mantis Shrimp before myself but I intend on raising a few in a 'grow-out' net and perhaps at a later date try to actually breed them and raise them from egg to marketable sub-adult and adult size individuals. I have already designed the floating net cage system to raise 'slipper' lobster in the hatchery facility, so I could experiment with photoperiodism and water temperature manipulation to learn the optimum conditions for Mantis Shrimp needed to simulate their breeding cycles.

