What's the difference in mantis shrimps?

We are looking to buy one, but we are getting confused over the common names of them.

The lfs we are going to say they have a clown, 2 peacocks, a zebra, and a green one. I thought clowns and peacocks were the same thing?

Now I am really confused and I need your input 3 reef! What's the best one to get and what's the difference? I prefer a smasher that doesn't get over a foot long.

 

I believe a clown to be the same as a peacock as well.
If he doesn't pop in soon, send inwall75 a message. He posted a link to a great mantis-only website a while back that I just can't seem to find anymore.

 

oh ok thanks maybe he will show up

 

Distributor of Mantis Shrimp, Corals, and other Invertebrates has some good ones that could help you ID stuff.

Clown mantis is another name for Peacock, or so I thought? What LFS are you going to? I kind of want to go check it out.

Be careful what mantis species you pick out. You don't want to get one that isn't going to fit in your 8 gallon. That would not be pretty...

 

we are going to Coral Reef in Knoxville tomorrow, if your free you should come with us. We know nothing about the area.

 

I was actually just up there with a friend. Be careful, that girl working there will sell you on anything. And their mantis selection is pretty stinkin' cool. Those peacocks were amazing...and I'd grab the "clown" mantis if you have a larger tank available. They're selling it for $55 because they fail to realize it's a BLUE adult peacock. Quite a steal if you ask me. The zebra was cool...it'd fit your tank. And the green one was super shy...

 

oh she told us they were on sale. How big is the 'clown' she has?

 

we can get a larger tank when we get the money... maybe a 20 or 30 gal... maybe we can find someone selling a tank for super cheap, we got our 8 gal from donny for $50 with the light and pump.

 

I'd say 5 to seven inches? Didn't get a super good look at her. But all three peacocks (or two peacocks and a clown...whatever) are definitely close to fully grown. All of them are very inquisitive, very awesome. They'd need around a 20 gallon, however.

 

ok we might just grab the clown up and let it live in the 8 gal for a week or so until we can get a 20 for it.