tiki Ryan Photographic - Odontodactyllidae Clubbing mantis shrimps

 

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Family Odontodactyllidae

The family Odontodactyllidae contains (as far as I can determine) 15 species in two genera. Mantis shrimps (family Stomatopoda) can be roughly divided into "spearers" on the one hand and "clubbers" on the other. Spearers live in burrows and are ambush predators. The odontodactyllids are apparently clubbers (although all clubbers can also "spear" to some extent).

The clubs can be locked into position ready for release and hit with the force of 0.22 caliber bullet. The acceleration causes a cavitation bubble which briefly achieves temperatures close to that of the sun and emits a brief flash of light (not visible to the naked eye). Prey, typically molluscs and crabs, get hit four times. The first time is from the first claw, the second time from the shock of the collapsing cavitation bubble, the third is from the second claw hit, and the fourth from the collapse of the second cavitation bubble.

All mantis shrimp possess extraordinary vision that has been the subject of much research in recent years. Despite having a much wider range of color receptors than we do, their color vision is not as good. However many of them can detect ultraviolet light and see polarized and circularly polarized light (if, like me, you have no clue as to what circularly polarized light is you can check here - but I don't guarantee that it will leave you better off!). Some stomatopods can tune their vision to match their environment - an extraordinary ability that hasn't yet been found in any other group of animals.

Rather than try and distill research information for you, I direct you instead to two other websites. For more detail on stomatopod vision I would try Wikipedia. For information about how stomatopods achieve such impressive smashing and spearing abilities, I would check out Roy Caldwell's webpage. As well as being a good bloke, Roy and his students have done much research on these enigmatic creatures (whenever I encounter one it looks to me as if it is thinking "I can take this bugger" - and they probably can). I have the utmost respect for these guys. I was hit by a smasher in the Philippines as I was pushing myself away from a wreck. I didn't watch where I put my finger (if I need to push away from something I always try and just use one finger to minimize damage or stress to organisms). Apparently I put it within range of a mantis shrimp which zapped me. The impact was impressive and I immediately recoiled, examined and then cradled the finger. It hurt for days afterwards and for a while I thought it was broken. Don't mess with stomatopods.

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8261

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8270.

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8270.

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8270.

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8270.

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8230

Odontodactylus latirostris Pink-eared mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8230

Odontodactylus scyllarus Peacock mantis shrimp

Odontodactylus scyallarus Peacock mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_5724

Odontodactylus scyllarus Peacock mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_5724

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_2358

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_2358. Underwater this animal looked green, like the specimen above. It was only when I checked my camera screen that I realized it was red.

Odontodactylus scyllarus Peacock mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8166

Odontodactylus scyllarus Peacock mantis shrimp Puerto Galera, Philippines IMG_8166

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_3562

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_3562

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_3555

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Raja Ampat, West Papua IMG_3555

Odontodactylus scyallarus Mantis shrimp, Fiji

Odontodactylus scyllarus Mantis shrimp, Fiji

 

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