ARTHROPOD
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Stomatopoda
Family: Odontodactylidae
Genus: Odontodactylus
Species: Odontodactylus scyllarus
Common Name: Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Stomatopoda
Family: Odontodactylidae
Genus: Odontodactylus
Species: Odontodactylus scyllarus
Common Name: Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Morphology
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp may be beautifully colored in reds, greens, and blues, but it is a dangerous and powerful predator. Its front appendages are not claws, as most shrimps have, but instead are bulbous clubs that can smash the shells of its prey - primarily crustaceans, bivalves, and gastropods - with punches faster than fifty miles per hour. These power-packed punchers are colorfully decorated with leopard spots. The mantis shrimp can grow from two to seven inches long. It displays bilateral symmetry.
Biology
The smashers are an adaptation developed to assist in hunting and defense. Their eyes are among the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom and have sixteen color-receptive cones.
Distribution Map
Ecological and Economic Importance
Facts
The peacock mantis shrimp's punches are as fast as a .22 caliber bullet.
It hunts gastropods, bivalves, and crustaceans by smashing their shells.
They burrow into live rock and are often brought into an aquarium accidentally.
It has sixteen color-receptive cones in its highly complex eyes.
It hunts gastropods, bivalves, and crustaceans by smashing their shells.
They burrow into live rock and are often brought into an aquarium accidentally.
It has sixteen color-receptive cones in its highly complex eyes.
Vocabulary
Resources
ECHINODERM
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Valvatida
Family: Acanthasteridae
Genus: Acanthaster
Species: Acanthaster planci
Common Name: Crown Of Thorns Starfish
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Valvatida
Family: Acanthasteridae
Genus: Acanthaster
Species: Acanthaster planci
Common Name: Crown Of Thorns Starfish
Morphology
Large and at times brightly colored, the Crown of Thorns is covered with hundreds of long, venomous spines for which it is named. These spines, which are rigid and sharp, are on both its oral and aboral surfaces, though the flesh underneath is soft. It is the second-largest species of starfish in the world. They can have up to twenty-one dextrous arms and can be almost fourteen inches across.
Biology
The Crown of Thorns' spines are laced with a potent toxin that causes swelling, pain, and bleeding. It feeds on coral reefs in a way typical of starfish - expelling its stomach onto the coral upon which it has latched and digesting it with enzymes. They reproduce when females expel eggs into the water and males release sperm into the water column.
Distribution Map
Ecological and Economic Importance
The Crown of Thorns' feeding habits cause extensive damage to coral reefs. Outbreaks of these starfish occur where damage has already been done to a coral reef. As such, there is an ongoing struggle for population control and defending the coral reefs. People do not have much use for this species.
Facts
There is a species of crab that lives on coral reefs that guards against the Crown of Thorns by pinching its tube feet and stomach when it attaches to the coral reef.
Despite its size and venom, the Crown of Thorns does have a few predators, such as the the Triton's trumpet and certain species of pufferfish and triggerfish.
Despite its size and venom, the Crown of Thorns does have a few predators, such as the the Triton's trumpet and certain species of pufferfish and triggerfish.