Identification required

[freddies]

Howdy all fishers .I have a curly one for you .Caught this lobster looking thing south of Bundaberg in the mangroves Any ideas

[thumps]

looks like a mantis shrimp

but i could be wrong

[Big_unit]

Ive seen them before but cant remember what they are ? Mantis Shrimp sounds right though.

Cheers
James

[ShaneJ]

Looks like a mantis shrimp to me, but I dont recall them being that colour :-?

[fishingnottake]

killer prawn?

[thumps]

Incredible Shrimp

Mantis shrimp are an awe-inspiring predator, being highly skilled and well developed for the role as a high level predator. They are very active hunters, and are lightning quick at lashing out. One finger of their main claw lies folded with a groove in much the same was as the blade of a pocketknife does in its handle. During a strike at prey, this unfolding motion can occur in less than 1/125th of a second, or 8 milliseconds, with the force of a small caliber bullet. It is one of the fastest animal movements known.

A mantis also has the most complex vision system known; trinocular vision. This super vision is required to give the accuracy that is vital to capture fish at the speed of the motions involved. Add on top of these features their noteworthy intelligence, and it all adds up to a predator that humans are very lucky is so small and lives in the ocean.


http://ozreef.org/content/view/7/2/

[1810B]

Its the little cuddly animal that take ove the perwinkle type shell, hermit crab without its house.

[1810B]

and a mantis shrimp and a killer prawn are one and the same thing.

[raefpud]

I beg to differ - I am not sure what it is but i am pretty sure its not a mantis shrimp

[raefpud]

again this is the fella i remember seeing and identifying as a mantis shrimp - we occasionally netted the lone sodiers at night, sometimes they can be seen smimming around jetties late at night up north off the reef islands - doubt they would be found in the mangroves

[dynamicspot]

not a mantis shrimp

[johnnytheone]

I reckon it's a mantis shrimp. Their size seems to vary a lot. I've seen 'em in the Swan River at night about 5-6 cms long, and in East Timor we'd buy the buggers to eat when they where the size of small crays!

[StevenM]

Dont Know,

Too small to eat

So my call is bloody goodbait

Cheers

[ssbayguide]

I can confirm that it is NOT a mantis shrimp - with 4 years of marine biology and many mantis shrimp inflicted wounds I should know.

The poorly developed tail (and I assume poorly developed swimmerets underneath the tail as well) indicates to me that it may normally reside in a shell - posibly a hermit crab of some sort that has lost his home (a result of credit crunch?)

I'd say get on to QLD Museum - I may be a crustacean biologist (I specialised in prawn sperm cells - seriously) but the guys at the museum are gurus with taxonomy (Identification)

Peter R

[Leo_N.]

It's called a mud lobster (Thalassina sp)

They are the animals that make those mounds that you see all over the mangroves (look a bit like mini volcanos).

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa/ria/text/406.htm

[dasher]

It's called a mud lobster (Thalassina sp)

They are the animals that make those mounds that you see all over the mangroves (look a bit like mini volcanos).

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa/ria/text/406.htm

Great pick up Leo, you even beat the experts mate [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
That's a great website, fantastics photos thanks mate. ;D

I am a bit embarassed though, although the nudibranch was quite spectacular, it wasn't quite what I expected. [smiley=embarassed.gif] ;)

[thumps]

looks like a mantis shrimp

but i could be wrong



i was wrong...but i thought the Mantis Shrimp read was worthy

cheers for the clarification......

[ssab1]

peter wont ask how you get prawn sperm,the mind boggles.cheers ;D ;D

[major-defect]

That looks like the thing Leo.

[Rainbowrunner]

as leo said mud lobster.

We used to get them all the time in the mangroves in gladstone, the aboriginals were calling them mangrove lobster.
Seen them alot bigger and quite good eating.

[Rainbowrunner]

ssab1, i heard that you cut one of there eyes off and they spawn........ :-? ::) ;D

[DICER]

I would have said hermit crab without a shell but Leo has correctly identified it

[mickstar001]

It's called a mud lobster (Thalassina sp)

[sackrash]

Hey Freddy

You were right it was a curly one, definately not a mantis my bet is with the m biologist and go to the museum. Certanly doesnt look like prawn sperm though!!!!!