New Mantis Shrimp Pictures

We've been raising two young mantis shrimp that we had found while wading the flats several weeks back. This one had been occupying a hole in one of the rocks in the tank, but the other one recently found the hole and for some reason this guy moved out. We see it in several different spot in the tank - I guess it is trying to find another comfortable spot. It has been a good time to take a picture of this recluse. This crab on the other hand is always out.

Playinig Catch Up Again - Friday Fishing

Busy weekend and Christmas... Among all the errands and chores (I installed a new sink in the kitchen, built La a long planter box, washed and waxed both vehicles and the motorcycle, repotted a bunch of plants, cooking lots of fish and a lot of other stuff), I did manage to get out on the water with Marlon everyday. And Noe and La a few times too. Here's Friday's fishing results - Marlon got a papio early on, and I got a papio and a coronetfish. And on the way back in, we stumbled on a couple of mantis shrimp - these had eggs otherwise we probably would have taken them home to live in the tank for a bit. Fun day!

Rocks and Limu

That's what I caught today. I took a couple of hours off from work and tried to fish the low tide at Bishop Point. I did have a couple of shots at some big bonefish, saw a few goatfish and had a chase from a small barracuda - but nothing took the hook. I did see this guy hanging out - king of the reef. I say this because there was a decent sized snowflake eel not more than a foot away - and this mantis shrimp just stayed on top of the rock. It didn't even move when I came in to take a close up.

Other Sightings

The morning tides this past weekend were super low. That left lots of little pools of water with the usual cast of characters swimming about. I saw several Medusa Worms, a couple of Snowflake Moray Eels and hundreds of these guys - I think they are juvenile Lizardfish. I did see a solid olive green Mantis Shrimp while walking around in knee deep water - it had the attitude of "what are you looking at?" - not afraid of anything. I'd be afraid of the big bonefish if I were the Mantis...

Bones at the Hawaii Ocean Expo

Bonefish jaws and some of the foods they eat. The booth was to educate the public about tagging (I signed up for a kit). Crab nuggets and Mantis Shrimp butts are among the carnage in the petri dishes. And check out the teeth on the fish jaws!!! Now I just have to "catch" bonefish... hmmmmmmm....

Add Orange to the List

I saw another Mantis Shrimp while wading the flats today. This one was bright orange. You can just see its head inside the hole in the middle of the picture. So I've seen green, white with brown stripes, tan and now orange - all on the same flat. For fear of getting speared or smacked down, I have not tried to pick one up for closer examination, but it would be interesting to see if these are all different species, or if it is just color morphing based on mood or dominance establishment. I'll have to find a way to collect these guys into a transparent container....

Same Place, Different Tide, Hopeful Results

Went out to the flats again to see about a wrestling match with some fish. This time I saw some signs that at least the targets are present. My rod is pointing to two large bonefish tailing. I cast a tan and white clouser to them thinking it was the closest fly in my box to a mantis shrimp, but they weren't interested. I did see several other large bonefish, but again - no takers. I saw tons of oama (juvenile goatfish) and mullets just taking in the sun and enjoying not being chased by the bigger fish. On the subject of Mantis Shrimp - I saw another one. This one was probing the limu for something to eat. More animals in the limu (medusa worm???) And some urchins. Vana (OUCH) and pencil sea urchins. Fishing this flat has not produced many wrestling matches - but the opportunities to observe have been awesome. This is going to be fun!

Second Day - First Time Fishing with the Epic 686 (that I built)

I went to Hickam Flats to try casting the Epic 686 I had built up back in Florida. I didn't see any bonefish/o'io - but I did see some schooling finger mullet (or something like that), a lizard fish and I even managed to catch this crab. I also saw the following: A mantis shrimp Several sea cucumbers A few pin cushion sea urchins This guy... I wonder if it is the same one (snowflake eel) I saw a couple of years back... and whole colonies of polyps (checkout the ones that were exposed to the air - this was a pretty low tide). So I didn't catch a single fish - but I did see a lot of what life uses this flat. I did drive out to check another spot - and I did see evidence of a larger predatory fish attacking the schooled up smaller ones (big splashes and lots of jumping fish). You don't have to twist my arm to make me go back.... Oh - and the rod casts wonderfully - this is going to be a workhorse for sure (in lighter wind conditions).