General Description

Raptorial claw with 4-6 spines on the finger. Carapace wide (about two-thirds as wide as long), the telson (tail-fan) ending in a bump with a slight notch in the middle. Greeny-blue with prominent white spots and bands. Up to 5.5 cm long.

Biology

Mantis shrimps rarely leave their burrows and are ambush predators feeding on passing fishes and shrimps. Vision in stomatopods is remarkably well-developed and each eye is capable of binocular vision and is specialised for colour vision and detecting polarised light.

Distribution

Southern and eastern Australian coasts.

Habitat

Burrows in sandy mud, or under rocks in seagrass, intertidal to depth of 10 m.

More Information