Facts About Mantis Shrimp
Mantis shrimp is a marine crustacean. Its habitat is the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean; it resides in tropical and subtropical areas of both oceans. These are part of the taxonomy group crustacea. It has approximately 450 species. This article will discuss various interesting and lesser-known facts about Mantis shrimp.
What Type Of Animal Is A Mantis Shrimp?
Mantis shrimp is a member of the genus Squilla. It is a Stomatopod. Mantis Shrimp are very ancient animals residing on earth. They have been living on earth from even before the dinosaurs.
How Many Types Of Mantis Shrimp Are There?
You can broadly categorize them under smashers and spearers. There are almost 450 species of Mantis Shrimp that are known to us. Most of the shrimps prefer to live in caves. They are of many kinds.
- Peacock Shrimps- Smith’s Mantis Shrimps, Ciliata Mantis Shrimp, Zebra Mantis Shrimp, and Gonodactylus Chiragra.
- Lysiosquilloidea- Tetrasquillidae, Lysiosquillidae, Coronididae
The above are two subfamilies, and contain many other Mantis shrimp species.
How Many Mantis Shrimps Are There In The World?
Mantis shrimps are not well-understood species. There are about 450 species that are currently known to us. However, these organisms are not rare. They have been well studied, and we know they usually stay deep underwater. They are buried under the sea bed.
Physical Appearance (Size, Weight, Colors)
When we talk about the physical appearance of Mantis Shrimps, they can differ as there are 450 species , and all have different colors and appearances. However, we can get some basic ideas if they are from the peacock Mantis Shrimp class. They can be colorful, consisting of various colors.
However, they can be simply translucent with a little green context. Mantis shrimp have six legs for walking purposes. They have additional four legs, which they use as claws. Along with these, they also have a special pair of claws to attack their prey. They have powerful eyes present on the top of their head.
When we talk about the weight of a Mantis Shrimp, they vary in weight also as it completely depends on their species. Their weight can vary from 13-91 grams.
they can be 10-20cm in length as far as their weight distribution is concerned. However, some species of Mantis Shrimp can even attain a length of 1 foot (12 inches).
Mantis Shrimp Eyes And Vision
The eyes of Mantis Shrimps are beautiful. They have the most complex vision system ever discovered in an organism. they can eveen see circularly polarized light, which no other organism can see. The technology used in DVD players for reading data is awesome, and these creatures have the same structure but much more advanced in their eyes.
Mantis Shrimps have about 16 types of photoreceptor cells in their eye’s retina, making them unique.
They can see many more colors in comparison to other species including human beings. Mantis Shrimp’s eyes are capable of detecting a cancer cell. Isn’t this amazing? Mantis Shrimp have fast processing powers that they take no time transferring information from their eye retina to their brain. Their powerful eyes can detect tumor cells as well.
Check out our article on the Golffish Facts for kids by Cool Kid Facts.
Habitat
Mantis Shrimp live in the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions all over the world. However, they are also capable of living in coral reef areas. They live beside rocks on the bed of a waterbody. They usually like to live in a burrow and come out to jump on their prey when needed.
Indo Pacific coral reefs are the main habitat of the Peacock Mantis Shrimp. As both the adult and young ones are good swimmers, they can be found up to a depth of 1300 meters. Usually, they are found on coasts of water bodies. Therefore, there is very little possibility that a Mantis Shrimp would be found deep underwater.
Who Do Mantis Shrimps Live With?
Some of the species of Mantis Shrimps are monogamous. They can be with the same partner for more than 20 years. However, there is nothing you can keep as their tank mates when it comes to their tank mates. If kept with them, they will eat fish, snails, crab, or shrimp.
It is because Mantis Shrimps are the most solitary animals. there can also be a risk of the tank being broken by its high-velocity kick. Although the chances of this mishappening are very low, one should not underestimate the powerful kick of a Mantis Shrimp.
How Do They Communicate?
What if we say that Mantis Shrimps can speak and each one of them has its voice. It is not believable that Mantis Shrimps have their voice, but it is credible. A Mantis Shrimp can rumble and make a voice that other family members easily understand.
Also, these Mantis Shrimps recognize a special kind of twisted light. Humans can not see this light, but some animals can see it. So they use this polarized light as a special communication method. Some Mantis Shrimps also use subtle body language as a communication method.
How Do They Move?
Mantis Shrimp have three pairs of legs for moving around. However, they have very strong punching power. It implies that they have very strong muscles. Therefore, they can move very fast to hunt down their prey, and only one punch is enough to kill or even break apart their prey.
Reproduction And Life Cycle
A Mantis Shrimp is a crustacean type of animal. They are from the Malacostraca class. Sometimes, the Mantis Shrimps can live with their mating partners; otherwise, the shrimps are territorial and solitary animals. In some phases of the tidal cycle, a female Mantis Shrimp remains fertile.
The female Mantis Shrimp can carry its eggs until they hatch or lay the eggs in a burrow. Many of them may form stable relationships, and both male and female Mantis Shrimps take care of the eggs until they hatch.
How Long Does A Mantis Shrimp Live?
Generally, the main species, the Stomatopods, live for about 3 to 6 years. However, some of the species of the Mantis Shrimp can live up to twenty years. Therefore, we can say that the lifespan of the Mantis Shrimp is according to its particular category, and there are about 450 species of it.
What Would You Call A Baby Mantis Shrimp?
Larvae is the general name given to the baby Mantis Shrimp. Unfortunately, there is no other specific name for a baby Mantis Shrimp.
Diet And Eating Habits – How Do They Hunt?
The Mantis Shrimps are hard and rude carnivores. The Mantis Shrimps use their sharp claws to attack or hunt. Mantis Shrimps feed on worms, crabs, many types of fish, and even other shrimps that come under their attack.
Mantis Shrimps are well known for their attacking; they punch extremely fast. They use their powerful punch to kill and break apart their target. The punch of the Mantis Shrimp is one of the fastest punches possible in the entire animal kingdom.
Are They Harmful?
A fisherman always sees Mantis Shrimp as a source of the problem. Therefore, he always avoids contact with a Mantis Shrimp. The only problem here is the power-packed punch of a Mantis Shrimp.
If it hits a human being with its powerful punch, the impact could be more painful than you ever thought as it punches like a lightning strike, and you won’t be able to react before it strikes you. In addition, it can cause deep wounds and result in circular rings following the wound.
Would They Make A Good Pet?
Some people find Mantis Shrimp to be interesting pets. You can keep these beautiful creatures but just be a little careful about their powerful punch. Also, you need a strong tank, and if you think you will keep another fish with it, this is probably not a good idea.
It is a carnivore and will eat everything present inside the tank. You can keep them with other Mantis Shrimp, but you would require an extremely large tank for this.
Conservation Status
These species are not endangered yet as they are very powerful. They can kill creatures even bigger than themselves; hence, they remain safe and are not endangered.
Conclusion
These creatures are quite interesting. They have insane intelligence and can even communicate with each other. However, their voice is not as clear as humans, but it is audible to listen, which is enough. These species are even older than dinosaurs, so you can just imagine their potential for them to have existed for such a long time. We hope it was exciting for you to know about them and their powerful punch.