Photo: Jens Petersen · Image source ·CC BY 2.5
Animal profile · Crustaceans · Mantis shrimp
Peacock mantis shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
The peacock mantis shrimp is a brilliantly colored tropical stomatopod. It lives in burrows and uses spring-loaded club-like appendages to strike prey.
Not a fish · an aquatic neighborWater
Saltwater
Shallow tropical reef flats, rubble, sand, and self-made burrows.
Temperature
Range not established
A dependable species-specific wild temperature range was not established from the reviewed sources, so both values are null.
Size
About 3–18 cm (1.2–7 in) long
From a finger to a forearm
Lifespan
Best-supported wild lifespan is not established.
Life expectancy varies with place, conditions, and what scientists have been able to observe.
01 · Signature adaptation
What does it do?
It spends much of its time inside a narrow burrow and defends a small territory. It hunts from cover and can rapidly retreat after striking.
02 · Home coordinates
Where does it live?
Tropical Indo-Pacific reefs from East Africa to the western Pacific.
Regions: Indo-Pacific
03 · The menu
What does it eat?
It smashes hard-shelled animals with its clubs and pulls the pieces into its burrow.
Carnivore: snails, clams, crabs, shrimp, other hard-shelled prey.
04 · Remember this
Two wow facts
Cavitation punch
Its strike is so fast that pressure changes can create bubbles that add damaging force.
Sources [1]
Rainbow armor
This species is among the most vividly colored mantis shrimps known.
Sources [1]