Mantis shrimp are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda. Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, while a few 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. Varieties range in colour from shades of brown to vivid colours, with more than 520 species of mantis shrimp known. They are among the most important predators in many shallow, tropical and subtropical marine habitats. However, despite being common, they are poorly understood, as many species spend most of their lives sheltering in burrows and holes.
Malacostraca is the second largest of the six classes of pancrustaceans just behind hexapods, containing about 40,000 living species, divided among 16 orders. Its members, the malacostracans, display a great diversity of body forms and include crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, prawns, woodlice, amphipods, mantis shrimp, tongue-eating lice and many other less familiar animals. They are abundant in all marine environments and have colonised freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are segmented animals, united by a common body plan comprising 20 body segments, and divided into a head, thorax, and abdomen.
The Thylacocephala are group of extinct probable mandibulate arthropods, that have been considered by some researchers as having possible crustacean affinities. As a class they have a short research history, having been erected in the early 1980s.
Megacheira is an extinct class of predatory arthropods defined by their possession of spined "great appendages". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. The homology of the great appendages to the cephalic appendages of other arthropods is also controversial. Uncontested members of the group were present in marine environments worldwide from the lower to middle Cambrian.
Platysquilla eusebia is a species of mantis shrimp in the family Nannosquillidae, from the Mediterranean Sea and north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is a spearer, and grows up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long.
Lysiosquillina maculata, the zebra mantis shrimp, striped mantis shrimp or razor mantis, is a species of mantis shrimp found across the Indo-Pacific region from East Africa to the Galápagos and Hawaiian Islands. At a length up to 40 cm, L. maculata is the largest mantis shrimp in the world. L. maculata may be distinguished from its congener L. sulcata by the greater number of teeth on the last segment of its raptorial claw, and by the colouration of the uropodal endopod, the distal half of which is dark in L. maculata but not in L. sulcata. A small artisanal fishery exists for this species.
Aeschronectida is an extinct order of mantis shrimp-like crustaceans which lived in the Mississippian subperiod in what is now Montana. They exclusively lived in the Carboniferous, or the age of amphibians. They have been found mostly in the U.S. and in the British Isles, in 1979 species were found in the Madera Formation in New Mexico. Aeschronectida was first identified appearing in Continental Europe in around 2014. While sharing similar characteristics to Stomatopoda, they lack certain physical characteristics of that taxon. The first species of Aeschronectida is accredited to Frederick R. Schram. They diverge substantially from typical hoplocaridan morphology by having more unmodified thoracopods. It's theorized that these thoracopods evolved to become more specialized, making them potential ancestors to Stomatopoda.
Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults, more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.
Acanthosquilla derijardi is a species of stomatopod crustacean. Its distribution is widespread throughout the Indo-West Pacific. The species was initially described by the American carcinologist Raymond B. Manning in 1970. Its junior synonym, A. sirindhorn, was named in 1995 in honor of Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand.
Tyrannosculda is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp which lived during the Late Jurassic in southern Germany. It was named in 2021, with T. laurae as the type and only species. Several fossil specimens are known, representing various growth stages.
Tyrannophontes is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the late Carboniferous period in what is now the Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois. It is the only genus in the family Tyrannophontidae. The type species, T. theridion, was described in 1969 by Frederick Schram. A second, much larger species, T. gigantion, was also named by Schram in 2007. Two other species were formerly assigned to the genus, but have since been reclassified.
Sculda is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp known from the late Jurassic to late Cretaceous of Germany and Lebanon. Although several species have been assigned to it, some are now deemed dubious or moved to different genera. It was a moderate-sized crustacean, measuring no more than 50 mm (2.0 in) long. Sculda would have lived in a marine environment and been a predatory animal, likely smashing its prey with the widened segment of its raptorial appendages before cutting it with the sharp appendage tips.
Gorgonophontes is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the late Carboniferous period in what is now the United States and Belgium. It contains two named species. The type species, G. peleron, was described in 1984 by Frederick Schram based on 100 specimens found in Nebraska and Iowa. A second species, G. fraiponti, was first named from multiple specimens found near Liège in 1922 and later reassigned to the genus.
Chabardella is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp which lived during the Late Carboniferous in France. It was named in 2009, with C. spinosa as the type and only species.
Bairdops is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. Two named species are currently assigned to it. The type species, B. elegans, has been collected from several Dinantian-aged localities in Scotland, and was first described in 1908 by British geologist Ben Peach as a species of Perimecturus. The generic name was coined decades later in 1979 by American paleontologist Frederick Schram, and honors William Baird. A later species, B. beargulchensis, was named in 1978 after the Serpukhovian-aged Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana where it was discovered. The two species were originally deemed close relatives based on their physical similarities, but several cladistic analyses published since 1998 have suggested the genus may be polyphyletic.
Perimecturus is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. The first known specimens were collected near the River Esk in Glencartholm, Scotland, and the genus was named in 1908 by Ben Peach, making it the second genus of Paleozoic mantis shrimp to be described. While many species have been classified in the genus since then, taxonomic revisions in the late 20th and 21st centuries have reassigned most of these to different genera, leaving two named species currently assigned to this genus. The type species, P. parki, was first named in 1882 as a species of Anthrapalaemon and is known from the Viséan-aged Glencartholm Volcanic Beds of Scotland. Fossils of a later species, P. rapax, have been found in the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana and were first described by Frederick Schram.
Gorgonophontidae is a family of fossil mantis shrimps which lived from the Moscovian to Gzhelian stages of the Carboniferous period. It was erected in 2007 as a monotypic group by Frederick Schram to contain only the type genus Gorgonophontes. A second genus, Chabardella, was assigned to the family in 2009. Fossils of gorgonophontids have been found in France, Belgium and the United States. The family may be polyphyletic.
Archaeocaris is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived in North America during the Early Carboniferous period. Though it was placed as a member of the family Perimecturidae until 2008, it is currently deemed the only genus in the family Archaeocarididae, and contains two species. The type species, A. vermiformis, was described by Fielding Bradford Meek in 1872 from specimens collected at the base of the Waverly Group in Kentucky. A second species, A. graffhami, was named by Harold Kelly Brooks in 1962 based on a fossil found in the Caney Shale of Oklahoma, with additional remains later found in the Pilot Shale of Nevada.
Nodosculda is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived in North America during the late Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, between 105 and 100 million years ago. The only species is Nodosculda fisherorum, known from several specimens uncovered in the Paw Paw Formation of Texas.
Ursquilla is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived in Israel and Jordan during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. It contains a single species, Ursquilla yehoachi.
