orange mantis please identify

[draco]

I caught a orange mantis shrimp in our 90 gal it is about 2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide.VERRY VICIOUS i have him in a 2L bottle in the tank with a bunch of holes in it. It has killed about 12 snails and 2 hermit crabs,and I havent seen our emerald crab in a while.please identify

[justinl]

sorry but I am going to need better pictures to get an ID. The fact that he took out mostly snails and hermits tells me that it is probably a smashing type of mantis. Hitch hiker mantids usually end up being the rather common species G viridis which i won't rule out but it may be a number of species. hard to tell any defining features.

where was the rock originally from? If you say Florida (tampabaysaltwater?) then most likely N. wennerae.

He should be fine in that 2l bottle for a short while. so please don't kill it. Sell it to someone. preferably not to an lfs as they will likely kill it.

[justinl]

lol i just saw your ad in the classified section.

[draco]

I have a bad camera but it has a blue tail and red lines between segments and it is a puncher from the look of the shells half of the shell is missing.

[justinl]

lol yeah definitely a smasher. as to what species? the intersegmental red lines allows me to narrow it down to either a G. ternatensis or a G smithii.

does it have fine white speckles on it? there are two little feathery "wings" on the side of it's head. What colour are they?

when I say smashing dactyls do you know what im talking about? they are the big bulky arms that it uses to hit with. on the inside of each arm there will be a large circular marking. can you describe it?

btw while it chills in that bottle could you please put the bottle in a relatively dark place in your tank? it would help the mantis out greatly. you could also feed it once every three days. grocery store bought frozen shrimp would work fine or some other large meaty food that you have like krill or silverside.

[andresont]

good pics!