Peacock Mantis molt pics...must see! (LOAD)
- Thread starter Venom SS
- Start date
The "suprise" sharp point which you discovered from the discarded raptorial appendage molt is called the "dactyl". All "smashers" have this feature however O. scyllarus (peacock) is the only species, that is a smasher, known to have additional spines within the folding portion of the dactyl. The dactyls are usually the only molt piece not consummed by the stomatopod for calcium supplementation. The dactyl is unfolded under certain circumstances (defence in the case of the smasher). When hunting and smashing hard surfaces, the dactyl is kept folded. Therefore, if you clean your tank or hand gets too close to a mantis shrimp's burrow the dactyl can be deployed for defence. Sometimes they use it, sometimes they don't, they can also vary the power of a strike. If struck while the dactyl is unfolded, your most troublesome worry will be infection. Stomatopods are not venomous, the infection is from your tank water. Also, take a look at the pictures again and notice the "bicep" area. It is saddle-shaped. This parabolic surface allows for tremendous potential energy storage. Once this saddle-shaped surface is "cocked", the stomatopod only has to relax the muscle to deliver the blow. Similar to pistol shrimp in another way, the stomatopod strike also produces a cavitation bubble which bursts to cause more damage. It appears as an electrical shockwave when viewed using a high speed camera (a very high speed camera). The target is thus hit twice in a single strike. All stomatopods were initially "spearer" types, some evolved a heavily calcified "heel" instead of the long spear you see in some species. Interestingly, P. ciliata is a spearer type species which evolved a "hammer" but then reverted back to a spear. A consequence is that this species behaves like a smasher in that it will actively hunt and forage instead of relying on ambush. Therefore, if you desire a spearer but actually want to see it, a P. ciliata is a wise choice. Having been on this earth for about 400 million years there still are some crazy things still being discovered about these little animals.
Another interesting observation I made while developing a new stomatopod trap was that my N. wennerae figured out how to loosen a knot I had tied a piece of krill to. I had to reset the trap with a double knot to keep her from undoing the knot without triggering the trip-wire. In the future, I plan on introducing the trap everytime I feed her to see how fast it takes her to learn to avoid the food in the trap. I've done a number of things to also "stimulate" my mantis shrimp, one involved placing a lava lamp near their tanks. If placed near the borrow, I was able to induce a meral spread from my N. wennerae while my G. chiragra and S. rugosa watched in wonder at the swirling colors. They are capable of many interesting things that I am still learning about.
