As of 03.22.2012, my Stomatopod collection consist of (1) males + (8) females = '9'

Gonodactylaceus glabrous 

+ Male - 'Adam', 2.6" from Indonesia

+ Female - 'Eve', 2.25" from Philippines

Gonodactylus platysoma 

+ Female "???", 3" from Indonesia

Gonodactylaceus ternatensis: Female - '???', 2.5" from Indonesia

Gonodactylus smithii: Female - '???', 2" from Indonesia

Lysiosquillina maculata 

+ Female - 'Anthea', 6" from Indonesia

+ Female - 'Ghanima', 5.75" from Balinese

Pseudosquilla ciliata: Female - '??', 2" from  Indo-Pacific

Raoulserenea komaii: Female - '???', 2.5" from South Pacific 

Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

Obtained from - BlueZooAquatics.com

Size - 2.5 Inches (63.5 Millimeters)

Gender - Female

Status - Arrives Tuesday (03.27.2012)

So, i didn't expect to get another Gonodactylaceus ternatensis. I don't like them but i don't hate them ether. Reason i bought her was because she is a female. I have no idea why i like most of my animals in this case Mantis Shrimp to be female. There are some species i am interested in obtaining a male but not in this one, lol. 

BlueZooAquatics.com posted her this morning with the headline of 'Orange Spot Mantis Shrimp with Eggs'. Yes, the eggs got my attention but i don't expect the eggs to hatch. If they so happen to i wouldn't be able to rase them. However, it be cool to see the buggers. :)

Isn't she pretty! Now for a name, lol. :::: In deep thought :::::

  

LiveAquaria.com (Doctor Foster & Smith)

Opening thoughts – Their the best in anything Freshwater, Brackish, & Saltwater of Online Companies to my opinion. If I could compare them to the Computer Industry…they are like Apple and all the other companies are like PCs, lol. Mantis Shrimp wise, they do get some in but they don’t specialize in it.

Customer Service & Knowledge – They give out a very corporate professional feel but sometimes makes you feel like a number. (Personally, what I like about companies is how they are personal to their customers.) They have a customer service team to answer all your questions and or concerns. Again they remind me of how Apple’s website, lol. If they don’t have the answers for you, they will get back to you and forward your questions to the right departments. They’re knowledgeable in their products and will recommend you the best for your personal situation. They even have a website dedicated to articles of the animals they sell and or products. (Link - www.peteducation.com)

(46%) Mantis Shrimps – They know enough but not as much detail as one would like. Or they know what’s the general information one could find on the web. They can identify some species, I’ll give them that but not perfect. Also they can't gender the Stomatopods for you and if you ask, they simply can't. If you request for an additional photos to sex the animal yourself. The picture(s) isn't always given, unless you buy the item in question. Then they do their best to get it out to you before your shipment is sent out. So, its more like a surprise when you get it, lol. (Sorry, I don't like surprises and sometimes even the good ones.) 

Availability & Variety – Fish, Inverts, Coral…etc. you name it they got it. Or if they don’t you can go to their section that you can submit a request. (Link - Will post it when i find it...) However, it isn’t guaranteed that what you request would appear. I think its possibly like a combination of a survey. The more of a particular species is requested, those are likely they would obtain over those are not as requested? Shrugs, or possibly in combination of availability from their collectors. I would like to add that they have a section called The Diver’s Den. Its what they call their WYSIWYG. They have a very large stock you can choose from that is first come first serve. How it works... place it in your cart and check out as soon as you can. if you don't check out right away other customers can buy it.

(76%) Mantis Shrimps – They have an okay variety of Stomatopods, I assume they don’t exactly hunt for any particular Mantis Shrimp species. I guess its ether what they find in collecting or what hitchhiked in their live rock. What I did notice…often they post of two species, however, do get other types. The two I see most of the time are Lysiosquillina maculata and Odontodactylus scyllarus. Many of them are not as vibrant as you would have found in Stomatopod.com. Also the animals come in all different health circumstances, not always in the best condition. Like a few come in as having appendages missing or damage and or possibly with shell rot. Moderately you do get a good condition Mantis Shrimp. They get a lot of Lysiosquillina maculata (sometime in pairs) or species that look like your typical Zebra Mantis. They can’t exactly tell the difference between species just the general appearance. Availability of Stomatopods are not often and are likely seasonal and or whatever their collectors gather during that time.

Pricing – I think its fairly reasonable. I seen in other places they have scary prices for common items. Where in LiveAquaria.com I think it’s a great place to get your live stock for Reefing, FOWLR, Brackish, and Freshwater.

(86%) Mantis Shrimps – What I did notice from the ‘Diver’s Den’, when its new to the site the price is pretty good and they disappear quickly. The more the particular item is popular. The price goes up on the next listing... (A good price of a Peacock from my experience should be from $50 to $80. Any more then that its over priced, unless they looked like Peacocks that were found in Stomatopod.com.) With LiveAquaria.com I think the price is fair but lately their quality is a bit on the poor side. 

Policy & Procedures – They have NO Holding of animals and are typically sent out the next day or two days. So when you order from ether facility your system better be set up or you have a temporary system ready. They have an amazing guarantee!

Packaging & Shipping – They have two facilities and each place they package your shipment differently. Both do a amazing job with the same materials. Such as Cardboard with Insulated Styrofoam box with peanuts, cold or heat packs and are double bagged. From the Diver’s Den that ships from their Wisconsin facility. They do a much better job in bagging and packing your shipment. Its just more tidy compared to the California facility. I don’t know, I find it odd my self. Like in the Wisconsin facility you order just a few items it arrives to you as if you order a lot. The box is huge and each item is ‘oh’ber’ bagged with not two but three or more bags and also sometimes put some Chaeto. WOW. Its really professional, like before when I ordered from them it wasn’t like that. Wasn’t so extraordinary…actually, if I remember I only saw that kind of packing from Stomatopod.com. When Stomatopod.com started becoming more popular that’s when I saw LiveAquaria.com packing their shipment in the same manner.

They ship by FedEx by ether Next Day Air by 3:00 pm in most areas at a price of  $34.99, which use to be $24.99, long ago (but since fuel cost had gone up so their prices at LiveAquaria.com). They also have FedEx Priority Overnight by 10:30 am in most area (but from my experience from FedEx in my area, Zip 22153 ::: Glares at you! ::: They haven’t been recently arriving at 10:30 am or before noon. It would appear on the FedEx Status website that it said it arrived on time but it isn’t at my door. So FedEx needs to see what’s going on with that.) Pricing for Priority Overnight is $44.99 it’s a nice option if you prefer to get your packages in the morning. They do offer Saturday delivery for $57.49. More information can be found here. I have requested them to have other options but all I get is. Thank you for your email we have forward your comments to the what not department that they have for that

Advertisement – Like I said their very corporate professional like. They have a very well established website that links to all their products and sites together. (Links - DrsFosterSmith.com, LiveAquaria.com, & PetEducation.com) They have a Mail in Catalog and email system. Also, I guess what makes up for the impersonal feel would be they're FaceBook page. They're websites are nice, clean and well made. I got a small issue with it a bit, as it slightly hard to navigate around. I saw this because they have a lot of information and details and sometimes I find it hard to locate some information, however, you can always email the Customer service them to tell you or help you located it.

They take a photo of the animal of a dorsal and or side view and sometime with close ups. The quality of the image is okay but better then most places but nothing as good as Stomatopod.com. They have a small description of physical traits and where it was collected from. I would actually enjoy seeing a longer description of the item but I guess it isn’t as important as it would be bought quickly.

Conclusion – I will compare all my Saltwater companies to LiveAquaria.com. Since it has been the best i have seen as far. I find LiveAquaria.com very professional and they offer amazing quality in all their products & live stock. I highly recommend them!

Average Total (69.33%) Mantis Shrimps – With the exception of the Mantis Shrimps...its a hit or miss and I hope they can locate more variety and quality of the Stomatopod specimens in the future.

Stomatopod.com

Opening thoughts – They are no longer around. I have heard several things none by Billy or Thomas. So don’t quote me, lol. Ether they had gone back to school. Had some issues from their collectors. As I recall something about their collectors didn’t want selected items but wanted them to order in bulk. Lastly with the end expense of obtaining these Mantis Shrimps. Since they specialized in Mantis Shrimps i wont rate the second percentage. 

Customer Service & Knowledge – All I can say is ‘wow’; they answer your emails promptly. They even had forums to discuss topics of what’s new, care…anything. If I would give them a Grade I’d give them an A+++! More importantly I trust them. (100%/0%)

Availability & Variety – They specialized in all things Stomatopods hence their name. They nearly had any species you were looking for. Rare ones when available. Bought most of my Mantis Shrimps from them including the pair of Odontodactylus japonicus.

If you were looking for a ‘Peacock’, Odontodactylus scyllarus. They had a multitude variety of all amazing looking colors and shades. Never found that anywhere else in any other company. 

They did get other things aside from Mantis Shrimps. Before the site shut down I did recall seeing a four inch Nautilus and this funky Anemone. (100%/0%)

Pricing – As I recall it was very reasonable and if you were a long time customer, sometimes they could give out an discount. (100%/0%)

Policy & Procedures  – They get their shipment and go through quarantine about nearly a month or less. I don’t recall, lol…long those lines. Then they take the time to sex them and take amazing quality pictures of each item. Then they post them on their site by species.

When you go to check out and contact them right after, you can request to hold the item(s). Until for whatever reason you had from waiting for your system to cycle or due to weather issues. Actually as I recall they won’t ship the Mantis Shrimps until proper weather and temperature were in the right conditions. I held the male Odontodactylus japonicus with them for months. Billy and Thomas actually cared about the animals and didn’t see it as just a sale.

In the event that your items dies from ether through Shipping or proper Acclimation. They had a replacement for each lost, ether your choice or theirs. (100%/0%)

Packaging & Shipping – Wow, it was packaged really well! They had a white Cardboard and Insulated Styrofoam box. Within was foam peanuts, heat or cold packs and some bags they filled with air…then your precious Stomatopods. They thought of everything to insure your purchase arrives safely and comfortable through shipping.

They went with FedEx…their pricing was also pretty good at the time. If your package gets lost or redirected to the wrong state. ::: Glares at FedEx ::: They take the time to locate your package and insure you of an arrival. Due to their amazing packing the animals are insured they do arrive alive. In the event something went wrong like your package gets misdirected in Winter. They will do their best to work with you to provide the best assistance to bring them out from near death/dormant state. (100%/0%)


Advertisement – Their website was well made. Simple and clean…I always like the idea of ‘less is more’. It was easy to navigate through and I felt you couldn’t get lost searching for company information and or products. They actually had two different designs, as I recall. The old one was blue and white and it was clean and simple. The newer design was black and well contrasted choice of hue fonts. Graphics wise they utilized their amazing photography and integrated it in to the design. Each Mantis Shrimp was place in to a container that had a ruler underneath. It was well lit and some what made the Stomatopods glow. It showed the amazing detail and hues of the animal. So you could really see what you are buying. As an Artist and Designer I could appreciate the details that others may not notice. (100%/0%)

Female

Male

Conclusion – I’m very sad that their gone. I hope they return, better and improved or exactly with the same passion that they had. If they were to have been still around i could see them branch out to other rare specimens. 

Mantis Shrimp – (100%) Approved!
As a Company – (0%) N/a

The Review Format

I decided to redo my review format. The only part I will do a percent grade is their level of providing Mantis Shrimps. The rest of the article would be my opinion about them, as a company. 

Company Name

Opening thoughts –

Customer Service & Knowledge –

(%) Mantis Shrimps –

Availability & Variety –

(%) Mantis Shrimps –

Pricing –

(%) Mantis Shrimps -

Policy & Procedures –

Packaging & Shipping –

Advertisement –

Conclusion –

Mantis Shrimps – (Average 0%)