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View Full Version : G Smithii Got me


rudy
08-18-2006, 12:23 AM
Was moving him and he nailed me through the net. It is still bleeding!
http://www.cichlidgallery.com/under-construction?page=8
http://www.cichlidgallery.com/under-construction/100_0045_IMG

DanG
08-18-2006, 02:09 AM
Holy ouch!

Skimmer Juice
08-18-2006, 02:18 AM
Dang!

OCDP
08-18-2006, 01:53 PM
Haha, crazy.

Joe Reefer
08-18-2006, 03:23 PM
Ouch! Are smithii's smashers or spearers?

Murminator
08-18-2006, 05:24 PM
Muahahahahaha.....pure evil:twised:

rudy
08-18-2006, 06:07 PM
Cool explanation from Dr. Roy on what happened.
G. smithii are some of my least favorite stomatopods to handle. I get stabbed my them more than by any other species (except possibly Neogonodactylus austrinus). I do have a hypothesis as to why. G. smithii is a reef flat species that spends a fair amount of time moving in the open. One of its major predators are octopus. It doesn't do much good to smash an octopus, but a stab can be effective. I suspect this is why when caught, G. smithii are more likely to stab than smash.

Years ago before they were common in the aquarium trade, I found a local importer who had a large blue-ring (H. lunulata). I bought it for a lot of money and spent several days photographing it. I decided to video tape a predation sequence of a blue-ring killing a stomatopod. I had a fairly small G. smithii about 50 mm and figured it would make a nice colorful prey item. The octopus was about 30mm mantle length. I set the stomatopod up in a cavity and introduced the blue-ring. It quickly detected the stomatopod and started to approach. I expected the G. smithii to flee and the H. lunulata to chase it down, but that didn't happen. The stomatopod lunged at the blue-ring and stabbed it with both dactyls right between the eyes killing it almost instantly. Expensive lesson learned - the stab of a G. smithii is nasty.

The reason the stab produces so much blood and subsequent bruising to your hand has to do with the shape of the dactyl tip and the speed at which it impales you. The terminal spine of the dactyl is quite thin, but has a bit of a hook on the tip. This causes it to catch in soft tissue and be driven straight into the flesh causing a puncture rather than a slice. At the speed and force that it stabs you, massive local hematoma occurs. The fact that the dactyl tip is barbed doesn't help as more damage is done when the dactlyl is pulled out. The entry wound is only about a millimeter in diameter, but the volume of macerated tissue along the route of the wound is much greater as is evidenced by the bruising the next day.

Sorry! Didn't mean to go off on such a tangent, but stomatopod wounds are near and dear to me.

Roy

reeferaddict
08-18-2006, 06:16 PM
Don't be sorry Roy! That's some great info - thanks!