Take a look at this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHTTIg7HY80

That was very cool :eek:

Wow! Thanks Newt, thats some amazing footage they have of the Mantis striking. 45MPH under water. Incredible.

So have you guys observed what she says about the shrimps behavior before they molt in your tanks? Do they get "obnoxious" and start smashing everything in sight? Do they then start to wave and signal during their molt as a bluff?

I do not see any difference in thier behavior, mine are mad all the time. As soon as i approach the tank, they signal and threaten. Until they relize i am there to feed them. Then they swim to the surface and patiently wait for their meal.

That was a really cool video, and I am glad that I removed the one from my tank.

I think a specimen tank would be really cool one day.

I sure do love Ted.com videos. Very good lectures!

I believe that domestication from long term captivity has changed the animals we keep... typical pre-molt behaviour by most mantids I've heard about from other keepers mostly just includes renovation of their burrow (increased digging, rubble collecting and rearrangement, chipping at burrow to make it bigger); increased strikes towards anything live hasn't really been noted in home aquaria. This is where i believe domestication has come into play; no threat present so no need for such energy expenditure. They also tend to stop accepting food shortly before a molt too. For some, no noticeable behaviour changes occur at all. Generally, aggressiveness depends on the individual. As for the bluffing, I believe she meant that they do this after the molt. They typically hole up in their burrow during the actual molt and stay there until sufficiently calcified (hardened); some even use a piece of rock to cover the burrow entrance at this time. I haven't noticed this behaviour post-molt but i could imagine does exist; I know it usually takes at least a couple days for a thick shelled arthropod shell to fully harden. I'll have to pay more attention to this.

while we're on the topic of molting, general practice during a molt is simple: leave the thing alone. This is a stressful time for any arthropod and the best thing you can do is nothing. Mantids can hole up for days to weeks (depending on size and species) and poking around during the molting event can easily kill it just by shock. best to stave off water changes unless water quality really calls for it too. After the molt, you might find the old carapace on the sand; leave it for a couple days because the mantis usually eats it. For the same reason, it is best not to feed a mantis for a few days after a molt; don't worry, it won't starve. Some species bury their old cuticle, but Odontodactylids do that less often i believe. You'll almost always find the heavily calcified heels laying around since they're too hard to eat. further on this:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=963909

for the record, since Dr. Patek gave that talk, their opinions on the meral saddle has changed. Dr. Roy made a post a while ago stating that they no longer believe the saddle serves as a spring as a energy store for the strike but rather a spring to cushion the blow after it has been made. This had not been published at the time; not sure if it has by now.