Owner handles large Zebra Mantis Shrimp (Do not try this at home!)

Mantis shrimps (actually known as Stomatopods) are an amazing collection of ’shrimps’ -- the smashers, the grabbers, spearers, the big one’s and the small one’s, the brightly coloured ones… It is also a well known fact that these creatures are highly intelligent and can be somewhat destructive and violent. But if you can get past their dangerous bad habits, these animals make amazing pets housed in a species only nano tank (nano tank for most varieties, a Zebra will quickly outgrow most nano tanks!)

With all that said, this video of a Zebra (or Striped) Mantis shrimp, Lysiosquillina maculata, you’ve got to be thinking that the owner is absolutely mad!

Some info on the Zebra Mantis shrimp:

Functional type: Spearer

Range: Indo-Pacific from Hawaii and Galapagos to East Africa

Habitat: Mud, sand and sandy reef flats

Depth: Low intertidal to 10 m

Home: Large, u-shaped burrow reinforced with mucus to bind sand

Diet: Fish, occasional shrimp and crab

Size: 1.5–40 cm (yes, over a foot in length!)

Aquarium Requirements:

Temperature: 22–28° C

Salinity: 33–36 PSU

Cohabitants: Will eat fish

Aquarium size (adult): 20 cm adult, 120 l

Aquarium substrate: Sand bed at least 1.5 times as deep as the animal is long

Info from Rory’s list of Stomatopods for the Aquarium -- check out this list, lots of great reading for Mantis Shrimp fans.

What is your take on Mantis Shrimps? Do you have one? Tell us about your mantis shrimp experiences.

[Thanks to Andy over at UltimateReef for shining the light on this video clip]