Page 87 - Caribbean Reef Life Demo

DARK MANTIS (Neogonodactylus curacaoensis) < 5 cm / 2 in Green to brown body with bright green or blue edges on abdominal plates. Orange below eyes. Colorful front claws.
Mantis shrimps have the most complex eyes on the planet. It is a compound eye, made up of thousands of photo-receptors of different kinds. Each eye moves around independently on a short stalk, giving the mantis shrimp a 3 0-degree view. umans have only three kinds of photo-receptors in their eyes, for seeing red, green and blue light. Mantis shrimps have 12 or even 1 . They are able to see both polarized and ultraviolet light as well. Different parts of the eye can look at the same thing, providing depth perception even if only one eye is used. This is essential for hunting.
Mantis shrimps are ambush predators. They get their name from a set of sharp raptorial claws similar to those of a praying mantis. They use these to either spear or slice at sh as they swim past their hidden burrows. The strike is incredibly fast; measured in milliseconds it is literally faster than the blink of a human eye. Specialized claws are also hardened to be able to smash through the shells of snails. Large mantis shrimps are rarely kept in a uariums, as they can break the glass.
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