Photo of The Week - Mantis Shrimp, Milne Bay

This week's photo, Mantis Shrimp, order stomatopoda, again from Milne Bay. Not the best photo in terms of "negative space" but a good example of matching the environment.

Mantis shrimps are in a class all of their own with two stunning claims to fame in the animal kingdom. The first is that the strike from a Mantis Shrimp is at least twice as fast as any other creature on the planet. The second is that some species have the most complex eye structures of any animal featuring up to 10 different pigment sensing types (compared to our three).

This little guy is the first and only one I have ever seen in the wild. One month later I encountered them again in the back streets of a Chinese city but that's a story for another post.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert