Aggressive hunter, luxurious handsome man, holder of a unique vision - all this is a mantis shrimp. Aquarists avoid starting it at home. Crayfish easily break glass and destroy all living creatures in the neighborhood. There are a lot of rumors about their terrible claws. Is there a giant mantis shrimp? How dangerous is a predator for humans, where does it live and what does it feed on? Now we find out.
Habitat
Mantis crab, whose photo you can see, prefers the seabed of tropical seas. Divers can watch them in coral reefs. The cancer spends all its time in shelters of crevices or dug holes and crawls out only if it is hungry. Despite their meek name, these marine inhabitants are real predators. Their prey: shrimp, fish, sea crustaceans, crabs and mollusks. To break the protective carapace, the mantis shrimp throws forward a clawing claw at an incredible speed (about the same as that of a shot bullet). Then he grabs the victim and smashes it against the stones with force. Continues to torture prey until all of its entrails crawl out. All his actions are error-free, in the dark waters at the depths of the ocean he is perfectly oriented.
Manner of hunting
Powerful strong claws are dangerous not only for small mollusks. Mantis cancer is characterized by aggressive behavior and a quick-tempered character. He grabs everything in a row around him, if it bothers him. It can cause serious injury to a person, as he is not afraid of a larger opponent. And I really want to touch this handsome man! Its stunning coloring shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow.
Cancer can hunt from shelter, waiting for prey to pass by, or go in search of. He is able to capture large fish, octopus or cuttlefish. A sharp push by the tail allows you to immediately fall forward and kill the prey. During molting, these formidable hunters hide in their mink, prudently laying the entrance with pebbles. At this time, the mantis shrimp drops its carapace and during the hunt becomes dangerous for itself, as it can be injured by prey sandwiched in a claw. He has to wait a week until a new shell grows.
Unique vision of a mantis crab
This is another feature that the marine predator boasts. His eye is arranged so that it distinguishes 12 primary colors. For comparison: a person perceives 3 primary colors (blue, green and red, all other colors are transitional between the three primary). In addition, infrared and ultraviolet rays, linear and circular polarization fall into the field of view of cancer. How the mantis shrine sees the world is impossible to imagine. Thanks to such powerful weapons, arthropods from this family are perfectly oriented in any space.
Danger to humans are the inhabitants of coastal zones of tropical resorts. And despite their modest size (up to 18 cm), these animals can cause serious injuries and severe pain to humans. Of course, cancer primarily defends itself, so you should not touch it out of curiosity. You can recognize such a violent aggressor by its incredibly beautiful color and folded front grasping claws, like the well-known mantis insect.
