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.
The decapod is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various groups these may be reduced or missing. They are, from head to tail:
Eumalacostraca is a subclass of crustaceans, containing almost all living malacostracans, or about 40,000 described species. The remaining subclasses are the Phyllocarida and possibly the Hoplocarida. Eumalacostracans have 19 segments. This arrangement is known as the "caridoid facies", a term coined by William Thomas Calman in 1909. The thoracic limbs are jointed and used for swimming or walking. The common ancestor is thought to have had a carapace, and most living species possess one, but it has been lost in some subgroups.
Oratosquilla oratoria, the Japanese mantis shrimp, is a species of mantis shrimp found in the western Pacific. It is widely harvested in Japan and eaten as sushi. Like other members of its order it has a powerful spear, which it uses to hunt invertebrates and small fish. It grows to a length of 185 millimetres (7.3 in), and lives at depths of 10–100 metres (33–328 ft).
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.
Pseudosquilla ciliata, the common mantis shrimp, is a species of mantis shrimp, known by common names including rainbow mantis shrimp and false mantis shrimp. It is widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific region and in both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Gonodactylus smithii, also known as the purple spot mantis shrimp or Smith's mantis shrimp, is a species of the smasher type of mantis shrimp. G. smithii are the first animals discovered to be capable of dynamic polarization vision. They are identified by their distinctive meral spots ranging from maroon to purple with a white ring, though those that inhabit depths below 10 meters tend to be colored maroon. They also have raptorial dactyles, specialized forelimbs that are pigmented green and red, and antennal scales that are yellow.
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.
Gonodactylus chiragra is a medium to large mantis shrimp that is distributed widely throughout the West Indo-Pacific.
Hemisquilla is a genus of mantis shrimp, and the only genus in the family Hemisquillidae. It contains four species distributed in Australia and the Americas. Species in the genus typically eat snails, fish, rock oysters, and smaller crustaceans like crabs. They are preyed upon by larger bony fishes and cephalopods. It is the most basal living mantis shrimp lineage, and the sister group to all other mantis shrimp.
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.
Daidal is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Carboniferous period. It is the only genus in the family Daidalidae. Three species are currently placed within the genus. Fossils of the type species, D. acanthocercus, have been found in the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. A second species, D. pattoni, is known from the Lower Limestone Formation of Scotland, and the third species, D. schoellmanni, was discovered in Westphalia, Germany. The genus has been proposed to be polyphyletic, with D. pattoni possibly being an earlier diverging lineage, though more specimens and research are needed to confirm this.
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.
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.
