Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Odontodactylus scyllarus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Stomatopoda
Family: Odontodactylidae
Genus: Odontodactylus
Species: Odontodactylus scyllarus

The peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) is a large, brilliantly coloured mantis shrimp with a green body, orange legs and leopard-spotted front. Its eyes are among the most complex in the animal kingdom.

It is a smasher, striking snails, crabs and clams with club-like raptorial claws that move faster than almost any other animal strike. It lives in a U-shaped burrow it digs in sand or rubble.

In the Philippines it is common on sand and rubble slopes, where it can be seen moving between burrows or peering from the entrance.