Mantis shrimp found in SEQ

A kids styled link on the mantis.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

A few variations of the more common ones here.

Odontodactylus scyllarus or peacock mantis shrimp.
Video of a large one
https://youtu.be/1nlZ19kY3UE

This is a large female peacock
https://youtu.be/CaWJZsvhJJk

These pics are all of a female peacock.
She has slightly less colour intensity then the male











Videos of peacock mantis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XwmGjE4Tc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI49z7dUvgg








These are a couple of videos of a big one we found followed by information on the marine mantis.

The one in the video is a foot long and capable of serious damage to you.





The shrimps name, though it is not a shrimp at all, is directly derived from the Greek word (mantis) meaning prophet or seer.

This was because of the uplifted front legs when ready to attack as if in prayer.

The name is still relevant though the old meaning is more directed at the praying mantis in its modern conversion.

These stomatopods which are not actually shrimps are a member of the stomatopoda order and the one most common in our waters is Pseudosquilla ciliata or peacock mantis.

Back in the day we would call them prawn killers and so far throughout the world there are more than 400 species of the mantis killing machine.

The one named ciliata of this huge group has an ability of being able to colour itself to the environment it is in at the time to a great degree.

This variety can attain a reasonable size of 6 to 8 inches unlike some others that can grow to 18 inches and be a virtual monster in their class.

A misconception of these most efficient killers is that some poses only the club weapon for breaking thru crustaceans shells as such and others the skewer for harpooning un suspecting fishes.

This from practical experience is false; several variations found in South Queensland on the clubs collecting have both killing tools at their command.

These weapons that can be projected at such force that they have been known to break 6 mil aquarium glass as a full sized adult.

With crustaceans they will hold on and smash at the creature at a blinding speed like a jackhammer at thin concrete.

The strike of their 'smashers' is at over 20 000N of force!

They strike so fast that heat caused by friction in the water directly around their smashers is hotter than the sun.

They strike so fast that the friction of the smasher against water molecules can actually produce light.

Humans see in a 3-colour spectrum... mantis see in a 16-colour spectrum including infrared!

The mantis eyes are not connected to a single optical nerve like ours, but numerous data streams that lead directly to the central nervous system- basically their eyes have their own dedicated brain.

The weapon combo has roughly three joints that when extended at top speed it sounds like a loud single clicking sound in the aquarium and if the pure ivory club part impacts on the glass it can be quite loud.

The click from the pistol shrimp is sometimes confused with these though the pistol clicks are in multiples of two or more unlike the mantis clicks being normally one at a time.

The wing style appendages either side of the head are for direction control and the mantis has the ability to turn under itself and fire at you much faster than you can move and will inflict a very nasty cut via its skewer to a human and be gone before you can react.

We see many of the mantises some guys have the peacock varieties of the mantis as pets.

The mantis is easily the most dangerous creature on the planet, if it were big enough, it would easily dominate all oceans!

These two weapons when combined with their unique bodily functions, make it the most efficient of all predators.