Nature. The Mantis Shrimp, Incredible Claws and Eyes

St. Martin is home to a wide variety of fascinating wildlife, both on land and underwater. The mantis shrimp is one of the most incredible underwater creatures in our seas, although many people have never seen one. A recent survey of marine invertebrates in the Réserve Naturelle’s marine park found many species of mantis shrimp in our waters.

The mantis shrimp can be difficult to find, but some species in the area reach up to 12cm or more in length

The mantis shrimp is a crustacean that looks much like a shrimp. They are typically found in shallow waters and usually spend most of the time hiding in a burrow. They are predators, and most use their specially adapted claws to kill their prey. The structure of their claw functions as a spring, allowing them to build up a large amount of energy, and release their claw at speeds up to 100,000 meters per second to smash their prey. They are capable of breaking shells and killing animals much larger than themselves, and their claw moves so fast it can create a vacuum in the water behind it. The release of the mantis shrimp claw is thought to be the fastest movement of any animal in the world.

The eyes of the mantis shrimp are equally amazing. The photoreceptors, which allow them to see light, have sixteen different pigments, allowing them to see a broad range of light, including ultraviolet light, as well as detect polarized light. Although the field of vision for some of these photoreceptors is small, the mantis shrimp’s eyes are on stalks, so it is able to move them around to look in all directions. The exact purpose of these complex eyes is not fully known, but it is possible that they use polarized light to signal each other. Mantis shrimps fluoresce as part of their mating ritual, and their highly-developed eyes may be specialized to better perceive this communication.

The eyes of the mantis shrimp are highly complex and capable of seeing many kinds of light

Mantis shrimp are not easy to spot, but they can be seen on the reefs around St. Martin, and even on manmade structures like piers, once they are covered in coral and algae. A great opportunity to search for mantis shrimp and discover other undersea life is at SnokelFest, a free, public event on Pinel Island on Saturday, January 25th from 11am-3pm.

For more information about SnorkelFest and to join the event, visit http://ass.lesfruitsdemer.org/events/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/623840144329454/