- Dec 2, 2018
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As far as I can tell, stomatopods of any kind are a pretty rare and exciting find if you're looking for an animal with a lot of personality for your species-only salt tank.
There are two kinds: smashers and spearers. Both take advantage of the same hyperbolic parabaloid shape in order to propel their claws forward. Smashers live in carefully constructed burrows in live rock that they make with their smashing claws. They also use them to break the shells of limpets, snails, crabs, mussels, or clams. As long at it has a hard shell, smashers will take most livefoods. However, they are very sensitive to pH and almost impossible to wean off livefoods. They don't get more than 6 inches in length and a 20 gallon should be fine. Keep 1 per tank as they will fight to the death.
Spearers are a bit more forgiving in terms of care requirements. They are found in more euryhaline environments in nature so you don't have to worry about salinity as much. They don't do well in a reef/cluttery setting and like to stay in their burrow (provide a lot of sand and shells so they can make it themselves). Other than that, don't have much in the tank. The catch is that they get up to a foot long (75 gallon is ok for one), and that they NEVER come out of their burrow. However, they are easy to wean. They will strike at anything that comes above their burrow, be it a fish, a piece of shrimp, or your hand. Most of the time you're going to be staring at a seemingly empty tank.
An illustration of smashing and spearing arms.
A smasher.
A spearer.
There are two kinds: smashers and spearers. Both take advantage of the same hyperbolic parabaloid shape in order to propel their claws forward. Smashers live in carefully constructed burrows in live rock that they make with their smashing claws. They also use them to break the shells of limpets, snails, crabs, mussels, or clams. As long at it has a hard shell, smashers will take most livefoods. However, they are very sensitive to pH and almost impossible to wean off livefoods. They don't get more than 6 inches in length and a 20 gallon should be fine. Keep 1 per tank as they will fight to the death.
Spearers are a bit more forgiving in terms of care requirements. They are found in more euryhaline environments in nature so you don't have to worry about salinity as much. They don't do well in a reef/cluttery setting and like to stay in their burrow (provide a lot of sand and shells so they can make it themselves). Other than that, don't have much in the tank. The catch is that they get up to a foot long (75 gallon is ok for one), and that they NEVER come out of their burrow. However, they are easy to wean. They will strike at anything that comes above their burrow, be it a fish, a piece of shrimp, or your hand. Most of the time you're going to be staring at a seemingly empty tank.
An illustration of smashing and spearing arms.
A smasher.
A spearer.
