Mantis Shrimp / Shako (蝦蛄) / Lai Liu Ha (攋尿蝦)

Since I don't have a quarantine tank, I drop my Live Rock directly into my tank, after drip acclimation. The LFS in Tokyo I go to told me that that was fine. So far it hasn't been too much of an issue, in terms of zero deaths-caused-by-LR-nitrate-stank-pollution. However, I have had a couple of interesting hitchhikers.

This one here is a Mantis Shrimp, about an inch long. I didn't know what these were til I did some research... weeks after I bought my LR, I noticed some googly things moving in the dark. The reason why it was so compelling was probably because of this:

• "Mantis shrimp possess hyperspectral colour vision, allowing up to 12 colour channels extending in the ultraviolet[10]. Their eyes (both mounted on mobile stalks and constantly moving about independently of each other) are similarly variably coloured, and are considered to be the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.[11][12]"
  (Source: see below) The independent eye movement was definitely interesting, and weird.

I couldn't get a pic, but this sucker was peeping out of his hideout in the LR. After id'g it on this out online, at TalkingReef, I quickly found that this species is a deadly one, which kills other things in your tank. What sealed the deal for me was this video, of a pet Mantis Shrimp (a huge one), killing a crab.

Nicknames: Thumb Splitters, Sea Locusts, Prawn Killers



Also interesting, is that Japanese eat this as Sashimi (Shako 蝦蛄), and the Cantonese eat this stir fried (affectionately called, Lai-Liu-Ha, "pissing shrimp" (攋尿蝦) due to the fact that they spray water when taken out of the tanks live). I remember the stir fry, these suckers have sharp shells, and can easily cut your fingers.

(Right: This is what I call "Mantis-Style")

(Left: Mantis-Style 2. Right: Playing Dead - these critters are smart. I think it was doing that so it could bolt if I gave it a chance).

How to catch a Mantis Shrimp:
I grabbed the Live Rock it was in, put it in the sink, and used a hypodermic-type thing I bought in the 100 Yen shop (in the makeup section) to spray room-temperature water at the hole. It slithered out, like a millipede, into another hole. Sprayed again, and it fell onto the sink. That was it.

The fish store agreed to take it back (no credit of course :)). They were like, "Shakko...!"

Source: Wikipedia