The virtues of small Odontodactylus species - Page 2

Gonodactylus · 12/20/2013, 09:27 AM

There are five species of stomatopods that are relatively easy to collect in Hawaii.

Pseudosquilla ciliata, running around on shallow reef flats, low intertidal

Gonodactylaceus falcatus, in cavities in coral rubble, extreme low intertidal

Lysiosquillina maculata, burrows in sand flats, low intertidal to subtidal

Odontodactylus brevirostris, burrows in substrate, 30 to 100 feet

Echinosquilla guerinii, cavities and burrows, rubble and substrate, 50-100 feet

My favorite site for collecting O. brevirostris is Lahi Lahi Point. They occur in burrows in the coralline algae substrate on the front slope start ing at 30 feet and down to 90 feet. Since the burrows are in solid bench, the animals are a bit hard to catch. The burrows are almost always u-shaped with two openings. Locate both openings (usually about 6 to 12 inches apart, place a 8 inch aquarium net over one opening and push your finger into the other. The animal will pop out into the net. Then comes the fun part, catching the animal trapped under the net and transferring it to a collecting bag or a small plastic bottle with holes drilled in it. I can usually get three or four O. brevirostris on a 30 min dive.

Roy

enchelycore808 · 12/20/2013, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonodactylus

There are five species of stomatopods that are relatively easy to collect in Hawaii.

Pseudosquilla ciliata, running around on shallow reef flats, low intertidal

Gonodactylaceus falcatus, in cavities in coral rubble, extreme low intertidal

Lysiosquillina maculata, burrows in sand flats, low intertidal to subtidal

Odontodactylus brevirostris, burrows in substrate, 30 to 100 feet

Echinosquilla guerinii, cavities and burrows, rubble and substrate, 50-100 feet

My favorite site for collecting O. brevirostris is Lahi Lahi Point. They occur in burrows in the coralline algae substrate on the front slope start ing at 30 feet and down to 90 feet. Since the burrows are in solid bench, the animals are a bit hard to catch. The burrows are almost always u-shaped with two openings. Locate both openings (usually about 6 to 12 inches apart, place a 8 inch aquarium net over one opening and push your finger into the other. The animal will pop out into the net. Then comes the fun part, catching the animal trapped under the net and transferring it to a collecting bag or a small plastic bottle with holes drilled in it. I can usually get three or four O. brevirostris on a 30 min dive.

Roy

Thank you very much! Thats exactly the type of info i was looking for. And thanks for the tip about the burrows. I will take a dive later and see if Im lucky. Wouldnt mind catching a falcatus but I dont think we have them here on the Big Island. Been trying to find smashers lately because all i find are spearers. Will start checking out the bench and rubble a little more throughly. Thanks again Dr. Roy!

Gonodactylus · 12/20/2013, 03:35 PM

G. falcatus was introduced into Oahu in the early 1950"s. The population exploded when they got into Kaneohe Bay probably due to the abundant rubble created when the reefs were killed by the construction of the Naval Air Station. I know that G. falcatus made it to Maui by the 80"s and I think they got to the big island a bit later.

If you dive for Odontodactylus brevirostris and find a burrow, check to see if it is occupied by inserting a piece of wire. I carry a foot long piece of coat hanger. If some one is home, you can feel the strike. If the burrow is empty, check around the immediate area. They often build two or three burrows about a meter apart and use all of them. If an animal gets away during a capture attempt, check the adjacent burrows. They often escape by making a beeline for another burrow.

Sometimes the animals will be in a blind burrow or one that is so cemented into the substrate that you can't push a finger through. When that happens, I put the net over the entrance and stick the wire probe through the net and into the burrow. By gently wiggling the wire as far into the burrow as possible, you can often harass the occupant until it bails and flees into the net.

Echinosquilla occurs on the Big Island and catching one would be a real prize. They are crepuscular and are not active during the day. However, if you can make a dive at dusk or dawn, they are easy to spot because the eyes are reflective (green). Scan the slope with your light and you should be able to pick up their eyes. You can then mark the burrow (they almost never come out) and go back later during the day to catch them. They often live in large tube worm burrows and can be a bear to get them out. I usually look for animals living it cavities in large pieces of coral rubble and take the whole piece to the surface to break up. An alternative is to squirt in a solution of clove oil. Sometimes that works. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

Several times I've tried to teach commercial collectors how to catch Echinosquilla hoping that they could supply me with some, but so far no luck
Roy

enchelycore808 · 01/04/2014, 06:40 PM

Sorry for the late reply! Ok will do that. Im free diver so my max is 30ft taking in to account the down time to attempt to get the animal. Will keep an eye out for them next time i do a night dive. Catching the urchin tail would be awesome and youll be the first to know lol!

Betta132 · 02/02/2014, 08:57 PM

I've never tried catching mantis, but I do have an idea for getting them out of burrows... Get a really big turkey baster, fill it with water, stick it into one end of the burrow, and squirt it really hard. I bet that'd get any mantis out of its burrow, and it wouldn't involve sticking your finger into a mantis burrow!
Works pretty well for my pistol shrimp, and those are really shy about coming out.

Hadla · 12/03/2017, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gholland

After almost 3 weeks with my O. latirostris, I would highly recommend them. I don't know how much individuals vary, but she is extremely active and interactive. Not shy at all. She doesn't even flinch as I clean the glass two inches in front of her face.

She did go sump diving on day two, but I fixed that rather quickly. She has a tendency to swim everywhere rather than crawl... very fast and very cool! I've seen her pounce pods, saltwater mysis, and even the occassional ghost shrimp and hermit crab.

She also has a temper. She was passing my pseudocorynactis and it stuck to her briefly before she jerked away. She tentatively touched it again, at which point it briefly stuck to her once more. She then proceeded to whack the crap out of it and swim back to her hole! She also likes to take out her frustration on rocks that are too big for her to swim (not roll) back to her doorway, whacking them repeatedly, presumably in an attempt to break them down into smaller pieces.

She apparently doesn't like tunicates, having hidden my black sea squirt in the back of the tank out of sight (much to my wife's relief -- she claims it resembles a small dog turd) and she apparently thinks I put all of the palys on the wrong side of the tank (thankfully corrected now!).

"Are you threatening me?"

This is the best!!! Anyone know if it’s still alive? The member hasn’t been on since 2010

12/20/2013, 09:27 AM	#26
Gonodactylus Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Berkeley, CA, USA Posts: 5,024	There are five species of stomatopods that are relatively easy to collect in Hawaii. Pseudosquilla ciliata, running around on shallow reef flats, low intertidal Gonodactylaceus falcatus, in cavities in coral rubble, extreme low intertidal Lysiosquillina maculata, burrows in sand flats, low intertidal to subtidal Odontodactylus brevirostris, burrows in substrate, 30 to 100 feet Echinosquilla guerinii, cavities and burrows, rubble and substrate, 50-100 feet My favorite site for collecting O. brevirostris is Lahi Lahi Point. They occur in burrows in the coralline algae substrate on the front slope start ing at 30 feet and down to 90 feet. Since the burrows are in solid bench, the animals are a bit hard to catch. The burrows are almost always u-shaped with two openings. Locate both openings (usually about 6 to 12 inches apart, place a 8 inch aquarium net over one opening and push your finger into the other. The animal will pop out into the net. Then comes the fun part, catching the animal trapped under the net and transferring it to a collecting bag or a small plastic bottle with holes drilled in it. I can usually get three or four O. brevirostris on a 30 min dive. Roy

12/20/2013, 03:35 PM	#28
Gonodactylus Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Berkeley, CA, USA Posts: 5,024	G. falcatus was introduced into Oahu in the early 1950"s. The population exploded when they got into Kaneohe Bay probably due to the abundant rubble created when the reefs were killed by the construction of the Naval Air Station. I know that G. falcatus made it to Maui by the 80"s and I think they got to the big island a bit later. If you dive for Odontodactylus brevirostris and find a burrow, check to see if it is occupied by inserting a piece of wire. I carry a foot long piece of coat hanger. If some one is home, you can feel the strike. If the burrow is empty, check around the immediate area. They often build two or three burrows about a meter apart and use all of them. If an animal gets away during a capture attempt, check the adjacent burrows. They often escape by making a beeline for another burrow. Sometimes the animals will be in a blind burrow or one that is so cemented into the substrate that you can't push a finger through. When that happens, I put the net over the entrance and stick the wire probe through the net and into the burrow. By gently wiggling the wire as far into the burrow as possible, you can often harass the occupant until it bails and flees into the net. Echinosquilla occurs on the Big Island and catching one would be a real prize. They are crepuscular and are not active during the day. However, if you can make a dive at dusk or dawn, they are easy to spot because the eyes are reflective (green). Scan the slope with your light and you should be able to pick up their eyes. You can then mark the burrow (they almost never come out) and go back later during the day to catch them. They often live in large tube worm burrows and can be a bear to get them out. I usually look for animals living it cavities in large pieces of coral rubble and take the whole piece to the surface to break up. An alternative is to squirt in a solution of clove oil. Sometimes that works. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions. Several times I've tried to teach commercial collectors how to catch Echinosquilla hoping that they could supply me with some, but so far no luck Roy

01/04/2014, 06:40 PM	#29
enchelycore808 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 405	Sorry for the late reply! Ok will do that. Im free diver so my max is 30ft taking in to account the down time to attempt to get the animal. Will keep an eye out for them next time i do a night dive. Catching the urchin tail would be awesome and youll be the first to know lol!

02/02/2014, 08:57 PM	#30
Betta132 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 2,239	I've never tried catching mantis, but I do have an idea for getting them out of burrows... Get a really big turkey baster, fill it with water, stick it into one end of the burrow, and squirt it really hard. I bet that'd get any mantis out of its burrow, and it wouldn't involve sticking your finger into a mantis burrow! Works pretty well for my pistol shrimp, and those are really shy about coming out.