Stomatopods arrive 09/24/09

Well the Neogonodactylus wennerae arrived from Tampabaysaltwater.com thursday. Both specimens
seemed relatively active. Specimens were shipped in triple layered bags, and snugly arranged in the package.

This is video of specimen 1 after 105 minutes of acclimation in a ~75% concentration of new water in acclimation bag.



Specimen 2 had a small pinhole through the inside bag, but I did not worry about it. I still assume he just poked it with his raptorial appendage at some point during transport. There was very minimal water loss from the main bag, however, thanks to the diligent packaging. I acclimated to the same parameters listed above for specimen 1. The specimen gradually began exhibiting the behavior to be mentioned in detail later. I can not conclusively state my logic at the time, but in hindsight, am thinking perhaps I should have acclimated longer and more gradually for this specimen. Here is video of the specimen at 105 minutes acclimation time and ~75% new water concentration.




Upon introduction, specimen 2 actively swam out of his bag, hit the open water, and dropped straight to the substrate. Video:



Specimen 1 immediately went into the rockwork and began exploring upon introduction. Video:





Specimen 2's behavior has been fairly consistent since introduction. Video:


Well, it was an interesting day. Specimen 2 remained in the apparent shock state all day, while specimen 1 found his way beneath the center base rock in the tank, and did some more exploring. He investigated a few hermit crabs that i presented to him, but no confirmed consumption. I have a handful of each crushed coral and live rock rubble, a large gastropod shell, and a ~3" long section of ~1" diameter clear airline tubing inside the Aquaclear 500, intended as an isolation chamber for specimen 2. I have read that a molt shortly after introduction to a new environment is common in stomatopods, so I isolated specimen 2 indefinitely.

I would like to thank Richard at www.TampaBaySaltwater.com for all of his help, excellent packaging, and words of wisdom.

More to follow.