Found in mahi stomach

 Caught a Mahi off Ningaloo recently. They were hanging along a tideline not far out. Stomach contents consisted almost entirely of these little crustaceans, plus one small  fish . shot of one one knifeblade added for scale.

Image Upload: 

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Have I stumped everybody?

Mon, 2015-07-27 14:03

 ?

grantarctic1's picture

Posts: 2546

Date Joined: 03/03/11

You have

Mon, 2015-07-27 14:19

You have, have done a bit of searching and cant find anything like it.

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14833

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Up comes my lunch.

Mon, 2015-07-27 14:22

 Up comes my lunch.

____________________________________________________________________________

Love the West!

axey45's picture

Posts: 1758

Date Joined: 26/11/13

 Maybe larval stage Ghost

Tue, 2015-07-28 03:15

 Maybe larval stage Ghost crab or mantis shrimp type?

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Where's our expert from the WA Museum?

Tue, 2015-07-28 07:06

 He has been most helpful in the past. I'm agreeing  with the suggestion they may be a larval stage of some larger crustacean? Eyes at one end, pointy spines at the other. Either they are very tasty or the mahi were very hungry. Well, hungry enough to hit a lumo green pakula cockroach.

carnarvonite's picture

Posts: 8622

Date Joined: 24/07/07

Bugs

Tue, 2015-07-28 07:38

Small bugs that cling to floating clumps of weed that the dolphin fish like to swim under.

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

I was hoping

Tue, 2015-07-28 18:02

 for something more specific than "bugs"

Rick's picture

Posts: 1101

Date Joined: 22/12/06

Glenn

Thu, 2015-07-30 01:08

Well worth sending an email to Glenn Moore at the WA Museum, very helpful guy

____________________________________________________________________________

PGFC Member

 

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15607

Date Joined: 29/11/05

have

Thu, 2015-07-30 07:02

I have sent to Glenn, just awaiting a reply.

____________________________________________________________________________

Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance

Glenn Moore's picture

Posts: 228

Date Joined: 13/02/12

Out of my depth!

Thu, 2015-07-30 13:13

Fish, I can do.  Mushy crustaceans, not so well :-)

I asked our Crustacean expert and he thought that, based on the carapace shape, they may be stomatopod larvae.  As adults, stomatopods are known as mantis shrimps.

Hope that is satisfactory.

 

Cheers,

Glenn

____________________________________________________________________________

Glenn Moore

Curator of Fishes

Western Australian Museum

twitter @WestOzFish

 

 

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Thanks Glenn

Fri, 2015-07-31 11:16

 I realise that the pics are not very good, thanks for the clarification. Looks like Axey was the closest .