Mantis Shrimp

Mantis shrimp belongs to the group of marine crustaceans. There are around 400 species of mantis shrimps that inhabit shallow subtropical and tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Mantis shrimps spend most of their life hidden in the rock crevices and burrows on the bottom of the sea. They have colorful shells and body posture that resembles posture of praying mantis. Mantis shrimps are consumed as a delicacy mostly in Asia and Mediterranean countries. Due to their attractive morphology, people often collect mantis shrimp from the wild and keep them in private aquariums. Despite these factors, they are still numerous in the wild. Mantis shrimps are not on the list of endangered species.

Description
The Mantis Shrimp is a small and exceedingly strange arthropod. Despite the name, they are related to neither mantids nor shrimp; instead, they are descended from an ancient line of superpredators, surviving to this day through a plethora of odd adaptations. Most obviously, they possess powerful raptorial appendages (the arms protruding below a Mantis Shrimp's head), which are capable of extremely fast motion-- fast enough, in fact, to crack crab shells, and even break aquarium glass. They are fond of digging long, complicated tunnels, from which they spring to surprise prey. Furthermore, they have unique eyes; capable of seeing of broader spectrum of light than our own, Mantis Shrimp eyes have the distinction of possessing cross-hairs, which allow the animals to target prey items more effectively.