https://www.google.com/search?q=earth+day+quiz&oi=ddle&ct=earth-day-2015-5638584300208128&hl=en

I was a Giant, but when I thought about the questions, I turned into a Mantis Shrimp.

What say you?

edit

Call me Manny, becuz I'm a woolly mammoth

These "what type of X or what X from Y are you" things can be funny sometimes. Especially if the "what GOT character are you" quiz tells your buddy that he's Danaerys Targaryn, and you keep calling him Kaleesi, all night.

David: "stop calling me that!"

Me: "Sorry, Khaleesi."

David: "You're Petyr Baelish, so shut up!"

Me: "Yes Khaleesi!"

David: "Why you little..."

Me: *runs* "Whoop whoop whoop Ahahahhahahaa!"

Honey Badger. I win.

Giant Squid!

I AM THE KRAKEN. RELEASE ME

Giant Squid here.

TOGETHER, WE SHALL FORM A SQUID SQUAD!

Why are you all Quarren?

I for one, welcome our new cuttlefish overlords.

Apparently I'm a Kimodo Dragon......

Dammit! why am I the only one who is an extinct species?

"Assuming direct control..."

Oh, how old that got. Jeebus.

Okay, so not a cuttlefish...

^

I

I

I

I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going...

Wait... are you comparing yourselves to these animals metaphorically or are you one of those "otherkin" I keep hearing about?

I got the mantis shrimp for this quiz too, which is appropriate because I've kept them as pets for the last 10 years or so, off and on.

This is Thor, my Odontodactylus havanensis. He was a cutie, but his tank sprang a leak, so I had to give him up to a friend. I was super disappointed, as he was my first havanensis, and he was really great:

This is Lily eating a crab. She was my first peacock (Odontodactylus scyllarus) and my favorite mantis shrimp of all time. I picked her out from a shop that had like fifty of them, and she was the best one. Very active and interactive. She loved watching flight sims and space battles on the computer, as well as kicking things to death and using their corpses to decorate her burrow. I miss her a lot. She was such a fascinating animal with so many interesting behaviors beyond the violence most people associate with mantis shrimp.

Wait... are you comparing yourselves to these animals metaphorically or are you one of those "otherkin" I keep hearing about?

It was some quiz Google did for Earth Day.

She loved watching flight sims and space battles on the computer, as well as kicking things to death and using their corpses to decorate her burrow.

That description is amazing and mildly terrifying.

She was such a fascinating animal with so many interesting behaviors beyond the violence most people associate with mantis shrimp.

...and yet at the same time, I'm guessing the insane levels of punchy-smashy violence was pretty interesting to watch as well?

Are these beasties difficult to look after and care for? (I'm assuming they require little in the way of cuddles or grooming, which would make them less needy than a cat for a start)

She was such a fascinating animal with so many interesting behaviors beyond the violence most people associate with mantis shrimp.

...and yet at the same time, I'm guessing the insane levels of punchy-smashy violence was pretty interesting to watch as well?

Are these beasties difficult to look after and care for? (I'm assuming they require little in the way of cuddles or grooming, which would make them less needy than a cat for a start)

So, I realized I accidentally said peacocks were havenensis in my post, they're scyllarus, but that's important for this question about taking care of them. Most people say that mantis shrimp are almost impossible to kill. They're considered pests in the reef trade, as they can come into your tank via live rock, and then murder all of your pretty fish and cleaner crustaceans. Well, the idea of them being bulletproof and easy to care for is only really true of species like Neogonodactylus wennerae or some of the Gonodactylids. An Odontodactylus, like Lily or Thor, is harder to care for. For O. scyllarus (the famous peacock mantis shrimp that is pretty much what the internet thinks a generic mantis shrimp is) is one of the largest of the smashers, with amazing colors and behavior. They make great pets in a tank. However, they need their own tank, of at least 30 and preferably 40 gallons, and the tank should be designed to maximize the footprint, or bottom area of the tank, as that's where these guys live. So, you'd want to make the tank short and squat, but very long and wide. Also, the peacock is a deeper-water species, so you should never use reef lighting with them, it can cause shell rot. The pics of Lily the tank lights were on, but only momentarily. Most of the time, I only used actinics (blue lighting) on her tank, and even then I turned them off at night. Also, they have to have the ability to build a burrow to live in. Mantis shrimp are thigmotactic, they like their burrows. And they need the protection from light to keep from getting shell rot. The other issue with peacocks is water quality. You need to have good water quality and do frequent water changes for them, and they can be sensitive to rapid salinity climbs. Lily actually died from a salinity change when I screwed something up. I was devastated. I never made that mistake again with a peacock, but I never found a peacock I liked as much as her either.

The O. havanensis like Thor is notoriously difficult to care for. They require high oxygen levels in the water. So, for his tank, I got a tank that was oversized for him - I think it was 20 gallons, but with a big footprint, like a 20 breeder. And then I ran double the amount of filtration you'd want. On top of that, I added a second double-sized filter, and put chaeto algae in it, to use it as a miniature refugium, so it was constantly pumping oxygenated water into the tank. O. havanensis are fine with tank lighting, so I had some lights, but not much. Anyway, he was totally happy and healthy and water quality was fantastic with that set-up, but then the tank sprang a leak and I knew I couldn't cycle up a new one in time to keep him, so I gave him away.

Also, keep in mind, lifespans generally are 3 years or so, max of 5 for a peacock even if you do everything right.

She loved watching flight sims and space battles on the computer, as well as kicking things to death and using their corpses to decorate her burrow.

That description is amazing and mildly terrifying.

She was an awesome little predator. I remember the first time I fed her a live crab (they need it to be healthy, so if you're going to keep one, live prey occasionally is more or less required. For an octopus or something, live prey is absolutely required.), I was worried that I'd picked one out that was too big. He was a male fiddler crab, and he had this giant claw that he was menacing her with. She reached out with her antennules to see what he was, and he tried to snap them off with his claw. So, she kicked him in the claw, and his big crab claw exploded into five or six different pieces. And then the crab tried to run away, but Lily lunged on top of him and kicked him repeatedly in the head until he stopped moving.

I was worried that I'd picked one out that was too big. He was a male fiddler crab, and he had this giant claw that he was menacing her with. She reached out with her antennules to see what he was, and he tried to snap them off with his claw. So, she kicked him in the claw, and his big crab claw exploded into five or six different pieces. And then the crab tried to run away, but Lily lunged on top of him and kicked him repeatedly in the head until he stopped moving.

With material like that, you really need to start writing children's stories!

I was worried that I'd picked one out that was too big. He was a male fiddler crab, and he had this giant claw that he was menacing her with. She reached out with her antennules to see what he was, and he tried to snap them off with his claw. So, she kicked him in the claw, and his big crab claw exploded into five or six different pieces. And then the crab tried to run away, but Lily lunged on top of him and kicked him repeatedly in the head until he stopped moving.

With material like that, you really need to start writing children's stories!

Actually, I already have. Mantis shrimp are the absolute best. Well, them and falcons.