Can anyone take pics of this baby stomatopod for me?

[kgoldy]

I always look very closely at my sandbeds because I find the life in them to be incredibly amazing. Yet I never expected to find a baby mantis- about the size of a grain of rice- maintaining a burrow in my display fuge. (Or it may be inhabiting a tube in the substrate that a worm created).

I don't have the lens (or camera skills) to capture the details I can see with my naked eye- but from body shape and tell-tale front appendages to it's mannerisms, I'm absolutely convinced it's a mantis shrimp. I saw it carrying grains of sand, which gave me a good look at the arms- and the way it "arches it's back" when carrying substrate like larger mantis shrimp I've seen... It's small enough that when a copepod wandered into it's burrow, it got startled and fled backwards. Since discovering it, sadly, it's moving it's burrow away from the glass, so observing it is becoming more difficult...

I have a Cannon G-10, and ZERO photography experience. Can anyone help me get better shots of this thing- either through instruction or coming over and taking a few shots? Bellmore NY 11710

Below are pics of the burrow while it was hiding... They just show the substrate...

 

[KathyC]

More than likely what you are looking at is probably an amphipod not a mantis baby.


There are many pics on there of what an amphipod looks like, see if you can compare them to what you saw in your tank.


Just Google Amphipod and click on images

 

[kgoldy]

I know what amphipods, isopods and copepods all look like. You can see them all on the surface in the pictures above (although they weren't what I was focusing on, so they're not all that clear).

This is a stomatopod- I'm looking for someone who can help me with getting better pictures so I can put an end to the speculation about what it is on the forums, and focus on raising the thing.

Stomatopod pictures-
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/

 

[ryangrieder]

That's no mantis...

 

[grisha]

Thats one of those hairy worms which come out to steal fish food...or if you wanna try you can put a crab or snail next to it and see if it go...booommmm

 

[kgoldy]

Now it's a worm? Bah. Forget it.

 

[masterswimmer]

more than likely what you are looking at is probably an amphipod not a mantis baby.


There are many pics on there of what an amphipod looks like, see if you can compare them to what you saw in your tank.


Just google amphipod and click on images

+1