| Mantis shrimps | ||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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not necessarily a complete list: Alainosquillidae Bathysquillidae Coronididae Erythrosquillidae Eurysquillidae Gonodactylidae Hemisquillidae Indosquillidae Lysiosquillidae Nannosquillidae Odontodactylidae Parasquillidae Protosquillidae Pseudosquillidae Squillidae Takuidae Tetrasquillidae | ||||||||||
There are around 400 species of mantis shrimp worldwide. A typical species is Squilla empusa. They are neither shrimps nor mantises, but receive their name purely from the physical resemblance to both the terrestrial praying mantis and shrimp.
Growing to a potential length of 8-12 inches (though most species are much smaller), these aggressive and solitary sea creatures spend most of their time at a depth of up to 1500 meters, hiding within rock formations, or burrowing intricate passageways in the seabed, where they patiently wait for prey. They rarely exit their homes except to feed and relocate. They live in tropical and subtropical seas.
Once called "sea locusts" by ancient Assyrians, and now sometimes referred to as "thumb splitters" by modern divers - because of the relative ease the creature has in mutilating small appendages - mantis shrimp sport powerful claws, formed like jackknives, that they use to attack prey.
The species are commonly separated into two distinct groups determined by the manner of claws they possess: "Spearers" are armed with two spines topped with barbed tips, used to stab and snag prey, while "Smashers" possess a blunt appendage, rather like a club, that is used to bludgeon and smash their meals apart. Both types strike by rapidly unfolding and swinging their raptorial claws at the prey, and are capable of inflicting serious damage on victims significantly greater in size than themselves. These two weapons are employed with blinding quickness, roughly measured at 10 meters per second, and strike with a force comparable to a bullet. Some mantis shrimp, which are sometimes kept as aquarium pets, have managed to break through their double-paned aquarium glass with a single strike from the weapon. Smashers use this ability to attack and feast on snails, crabs, mollusks and rock oysters; their blunt clubs enabling them to crack the shells of their prey into pieces. Spearers, on the other hand, prefer the meat of softer animals, like fish, which their barbed claws can more easily slice and snag.
Mantis shrimp appear in a variety of colours, from rather pedestrian browns to stunning neon. Their stalked eyes are emerald green, and contain many more photo-receptors than the human eye, making the creature an even more formidable predator.