Lisa's Mantis (Lysiosquillina lisa) is commonly found in its den and in the hunting position. Like a rotating tank turret with lobed eyes, searching for its next opportunity to feed. Lobed eyes rotating, up and down, forwards and back. Its hole is several inches wide and perfectly formed.

Mike Bartick

Tiger Mantis (Lysiosquillina maculata) are rarely seen out in the open, so when I happened upon this one I assumed it was dead. After sensing my presence, it quickly sprang to life and sped away.

Mike Bartick

An unidentified Spearing Mantis from the cold waters of Southern California. Not as plentiful as in the Indo-Pacific, but just as much fun to photograph.

Mike Bartick

The captivating flicker and shutter-like eye movements could be signaling other mantises of danger or of interest in an amorous nature. Also believed to communicate with infrared colors through the eyes, is the mantis shrimp otherworldly?

Mike Bartick

What do we know about the eye of the mantis? First is the superior and highly adaptive vision of a Sea Mantis, which is reportedly the most advanced and complex vision of any creature in the animal kingdom. Each eye operates better than both of the human eyes put together and in a trinocular fashion. Mounted on rotating stalks their eyes move independently from each other, constantly searching for predators and prey. Mantis eyes are divided into three segments with more than 4 times the amount of light and color photoreceptors than humans — 16 to be exact. A butterfly has 6 photoreceptors and humans have only 4. Second, but not any less remarkable, is the Sea Mantis arsenal of weaponry that is used to hunt and defend itself. The spearing mantises are generally larger than the smashers and rarely leave their holes to hunt. Its upper body is dramatically larger than that of the lower half of its body with most of its bulk made up by its retracted claws. The spearing appendage (as seen in the following illustration) accurately strikes out at unsuspecting fish that wander too closely to the mantis’s hole. In one fast move the waiting mantis unleashes its lightning-fast strike, spearing its victim, often slicing them in half.

Mike Bartick

The smasher uses its powerful mallet (as seen in the illustration) to subdue prey like crabs by repeatedly striking them. The smashers like the peacock mantis typically leave their holes to hunt, overpowering their prey with shear speed and the brute force of its smashing mallet. There are many urban legends that surround the mantis shrimp, such as deliberately breaking dome ports and smashing the glass of aquariums. True or not, I have personally seen them strike strobe heads, video camera lights and even divers' hands without provocation.

Mike Bartick

The Sea Mantis is easily one of earth's least understood marine creatures, and the more I read about them the more impressed I become. Was it the 400 million years of evolution that built the prefect predator or did they arrive from another galaxy? Who knows. One thing is for certain — the Sea Mantis is one heck of a critter!

Mike Bartick

In a lifetime, a mantis shrimp can have as many as 20 or 30 breeding episodes.

Mike Bartick

Pink Earred Mantis (Odontodactylus latirostris) with a clutch of white eggs. This smashing-type mantis will carry the eggs while hunting and conducting its daily business.

Mike Bartick

Peacock Mantis (Odontodactylus scyllarus) standing on its rear legs and displaying its eggs. The mantis is actually in the strike position, evaluating the threat of my presence. A few moments later it decided I was harmless and slowly walked away.

Mike Bartick

A mimic octopus overpowers a shortbeak mantis in a cat-and-mouse duel, releasing the mantis and chasing it back down. Octopus often come into contact with mantis shrimp as they forage and hunt for food. Each of them are on the other's menu.

Mike Bartick