Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda, branching from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimps typically grow to around 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, while a few can reach up to 38 cm (15 in). The largest mantis shrimp ever caught had a length of 46 cm (18 in); it was caught in the Indian River near Fort Pierce, Florida, in the United States. A mantis shrimp's carapace covers only the rear part of the head and the first four segments of the thorax. Varieties range in color from shades of brown to vivid colors, with more than 450 species of mantis shrimps being 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 tucked away in burrows and holes.
Zoanthids are an order of cnidarians commonly found in coral reefs, the deep sea and many other marine environments around the world. These animals come in a variety of different colonizing formations and in numerous colors. They can be found as individual polyps, attached by a fleshy stolon or a mat that can be created from small pieces of sediment, sand and rock. The term "zoanthid" refers to all animals within this order Zoantharia, and should not be confused with "Zoanthus", which is one genus within Zoantharia.
Gonodactylidae is a family of mantis shrimp. It contains the following genera:
Squilla mantis is a species of mantis shrimp found in shallow coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean: it is also known as "pacchero" or "canocchia". Its abundance has led to it being the only commercially fished mantis shrimp in the Mediterranean.
Squillidae is a family of mantis shrimp, the only family in the superfamily Squilloidea. The type genus is Squilla. It is the stomatopod family with the most genera, as follows:
Rissoides is a genus of mantis shrimp. It is named after Antoine Risso, and includes the following species:
Squilla is a genus of mantis shrimp. It includes the following species:
Oratosquilla oratoria is a species of mantis shrimp found in the Western Pacific. It is widely harvested in Japan where it is known as shako 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.
Caridina gracilirostris is a species of brackishwater shrimp belong to genus Caridina in the family Atyidae. It has a wide native range extending from Japan and Fiji through Indonesia to Madagascar. It is an algae-eating species that lives in mangroves and marshes. Its common names include red front shrimp, red rhinoceros shrimp, red nosed phantom shrimp, and needlenose caridina, red nosed shrimp.
Tetrasquilla is a genus of mantis shrimp containing a single species, Tetrasquilla mccullochae. It is the only known pantropical stomatopod. The specific epithet commemorates Dr. Irene A. McCulloch, professor of zoology of the University of Southern California.
Gonodactylus smithii, the purple spot mantis shrimp, is a species of mantis shrimp of the smasher type. It is found from New Caledonia to the western part of the Indian Ocean, including Australia's north coast and the Great Barrier Reef.
Pseudosquillopsis is a genus of mantis shrimp in the family Parasquillidae.
Shrimp are decapod crustaceans with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata. More narrow definitions may be restricted to Caridea, to smaller species of either group or to only the marine species. Under a broader definition, shrimp may be synonymous with prawn, covering stalk-eyed swimming crustaceans with long narrow muscular tails (abdomens), long whiskers (antennae), and slender legs. Any small crustacean which resembles a shrimp tends to be called one. They swim forward by paddling with swimmerets on the underside of their abdomens, although their escape response is typically repeated flicks with the tail driving them backwards very quickly. Crabs and lobsters have strong walking legs, whereas shrimp have thin, fragile legs which they use primarily for perching.
Gonodactylus is a genus of mantis shrimp, containing the following species:
Gonodactylellus is a genus of mantis shrimp. It contains the following species:
Bathysquillidae is a family of mantis shrimp. It contains two genera and three species.
The Pseudosquillidae are a family of mantis shrimp containing four genera and 11 species.
Atorella is a genus of crown jellyfish. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Atorellidae and includes five species. Members of this family are known from the eastern coast of Africa and the western coast of Panama.
Caprella unica is a species of skeleton shrimp in the genus Caprella within the family Caprellidae. The larvae are plankton-like. They are relatively small, with two large and two small antennae. They only live in the sea, and are widely found in Cape Cod, Maine and Newfoundland.
