Mirya Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Florida Fish and Wildlife just posted a picture on Instagram of a gigantic mantis shrimp someone caught on a dock in Fort Pierce. I never imagined mantises got that big, nor did I need to know that... Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I call BS. Looks like a perspective trick to me. That guy's hand is a good 3 feet behind the mantis. I know about this because I fish... Edit: spelling Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Oooooooohhhh!!! Pwetty! I call BS. Looks like a perspective trick to me. That guy's hand is a good 3 feet behind the mantis. I know about this because I fish... Edit: spelling Oh I can see that now! The way the flash reflects so close the mantis and can see the sick standing waay behind! Link to comment
Tamberav Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 18" inches seems possible depending how he measured it. Blue zoo lists the zebra ones as 15 inches. We can't see the tail end of it :/ I hope he threw it back or at least ate it. Link to comment
ElmoC Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 According to the story, it was 18".The picture does make it look a lot bigger than that. Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 18" inches seems possible depending how he measured it. Blue zoo lists the zebra ones as 15 inches. We can't see the tail end of it :/ Yeah, I just meant the "making it appear like it is 3' long" part. If you just look at the pic without taking possible perspective issues into account that thing looks a lot bigger than 18" . Link to comment
NanoFever Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I believe it. I caught one fishing the intercostal in Ft. lauderdale on a 10in diving bait fishing for cuda's! Even put up a good fight! This would look great in my 10g with my blue hippo and yellow tang! Haha! Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 We started a topic about this on the Reef Central mantis forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2439694 Dr. Caldwell ID'ed it and had this to say, "Lysiosquilla scabricauda. The photo is probably a fake with the hand and rod well behind the stomatopod. L. scabricauda is reported to get to 275 mm and I have seen large males that may have approached 300 mm, but there is no way this animal is 18 inches even if you include in that estimate the dangling raptorial appendages." So there you go. Probably not 18 inches, and obviously the pictures were taken to make it look like it was 3 feet long and 30lbs. Big fish story. Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 We started a topic about this on the Reef Central mantis forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2439694'>http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2439694 Dr. Caldwell ID'ed it and had this to say, "Lysiosquilla scabricauda. The photo is probably a fake with the hand and rod well behind the stomatopod. L. scabricauda is reported to get to 275 mm and I have seen large males that may have approached 300 mm, but there is no way this animal is 18 inches even if you include in that estimate the dangling raptorial appendages." So there you go. Probably not 18 inches, and obviously the pictures were taken to make it look like it was 3 feet long and 30lbs. Big fish story. And there you have it... Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 To say the photo is fake is a little too black and white, isn't it? It's forced perspective, yes... but 'fake'? For a stomatopod to be large enough to reel in on rod/reel though... that's one GNARLY pod!! Bet it'd taste like lobster, yum. Link to comment
4x5 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Ate some in Hong Kong, they were delicious. Here's some for sale at a street side store, they were pretty big. Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Sweet! I'd try some! I recall perusing your HK pics a while back... looks like an insane place for any aquarist lol. Soo many lil critters in baggies! I was wondering how their crabs don't poke holes in the bags haha. I have no idea what natural Stomatopod populations look like... but it might be a viable option for high-end lobster?! Some people spend money, not on quality, but on quantity. So, 10 stomatopods caught/yr vs. 10 bajillion lobster/yr? Yeah... my restaurant would have lobster tails for $19.99... and Stoma tails for $199 Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Ate some in Hong Kong, they were delicious. Here's some for sale at a street side store, they were pretty big. I have always wanted to go to a huge fish market Link to comment
Han Solo Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I mean just look at all those unique tanks and plumbing just for selling food! Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Here's another update on this from Dr. Caldwell: "I've been away for a few days (eating my fill of Squilla mantis in Italy) and lost track of this story. When I got back I had an email from the chap who photographed the L. scabracauda. He said that the animal was not measured and that it wasn't 18 inches. The animal was released. I did some more checking on what was the largest stomatopod ever collected and measured. I was pretty sure that it was a Lysiosquillina maculata at just under 40 cm. I can't find any L. maculata larger and no other species comes close. I have a preserved L. maculata in my collection that is a large male from Hawaii measuring 37cm. That is the largest stomatopod that I have ever seen although in the British Museum they have a collection of war clubs and spears, many set with L. maculata dactyls and while I didn't measure them, a couple looked to me like they could have been from a male even larger than 40 cm. Roy" Link to comment
masterbuilder Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Lamprey Eel...yuck! I'll swim with the giant mantis any day. Link to comment
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