Details
Odontodactylus scyllarus
The peacock mantis shrimp is a vividly colored reef crustacean of the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is a solitary carnivore famous for powerful strikes.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives on tropical reefs and rubble bottoms, using holes and crevices as burrows. The area around the burrow is defended as a territory.
Length is about 8-18 cm and weight about 20-90 g. Green, orange, and blue colors, large eyes, and club-like raptorial limbs are distinctive.
It is diurnal and solitary. From its burrow it watches the surroundings and reacts quickly to prey or intruders.
It is carnivorous, taking snails, crabs, and small fish. The clubbed limbs deliver blows strong enough to break shells.
Egg guarding may occur in burrows, either by pairs or single adults. Larvae drift in the sea before settling back to reefs.
Its conservation status is LC. Its complex visual system makes it an important species in studies of animal vision.
