Mantis shrimp
order of crustaceans
Mantis shrimp are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (from Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma) 'mouth' and πούς (poús) 'foot'). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 400 million years ago, with more than 520 extant species of mantis shrimp known. All living species are in the suborder Unipeltata, which arose around 250 million years ago. They are among the most important predators in many shallow, tropical and subtropical marine habitats. Despite being common in their habitats, they are poorly understood, as many species spend most of their lives sheltering in burrows and holes.
Dubbed "sea locusts" by ancient Assyrians, "prawn killers" in Australia, and now sometimes referred to as "thumb splitters" due to their ability to inflict painful wounds if handled incautiously, mantis shrimp possess powerful raptorial appendages that are used to attack and kill prey either by spearing, stunning, or dismembering; the shape of these appendages are often used to classify them into groups: extant mantis shrimp either have appendages which form heavily mineralized "clubs" that can strike with great power, or they have sharp, grasping forelimbs used to swiftly seize prey (similar to those of mantises, hence their common name).
Description
Mantis shrimp typically grow to around 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, while a few species such as the zebra mantis shrimp can reach up to 38 cm (15 in). A mantis shrimp's carapace covers only the rear part of the head and the first four segments of the thorax. Mantis shrimp widely range in colour, with some species mostly being shades of brown, while others have multiple contrasting, vivid colours.
Claws
The mantis shrimp's second pair of thoracic appendages is adapted for powerful close-range combat.
The public source identifies “Mantis shrimp” as order of crustaceans. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mantis, shrimp and order.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mantis shrimp” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.