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Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp is a spectacularly colored marine crustacean with powerful smashing claws and complex eyes. It requires a dedicated, species-only setup.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Stomatopoda
Family:Odontodactylidae
Genus:Odontodactylus
Species:Odontodactylus scyllarus
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Water Temperature
24 - 28 °C
pH Value
8 - 8.4
Water type
Marine
Adult size
17 cm
Minimum group
>= 1
KH
8 - 12 dKH
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Odontodactylus scyllarus is widely distributed across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Japan, Guam, and northern Australia. It inhabits sandy, muddy, and rubble zones of coral reefs at depths of 3 to 40 meters, building complex U-shaped burrows.
Taxonomy: Belonging to the family Odontodactylidae, this stomatopod is a large crustacean growing to 15-18 cm. It features highly modified second maxillipeds known as dactyl clubs (smashers). These clubs strike with the acceleration of a bullet to shatter shells. It has the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.
Social Behavior: Solitary, highly territorial, and aggressive. They will defend their burrow against any intruder. They do not tolerate conspecifics or tankmates, making them unsuitable for community setups. They are highly intelligent, observing their surroundings constantly.
Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Extremely colorful, displaying brilliant metallic shades of green, red, orange, and blue. Sexual dimorphism is anatomically clear: males possess external copulatory organs (gonopods) at the base of the last pair of walking legs.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Aquarium Setup: Guidance about aquarium setup for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Feeding and Diet: Guidance about feeding and diet for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Water Quality: Guidance about water quality for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Compatibility and Coexistence: Guidance about compatibility and coexistence for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Aquarium Breeding: Guidance about aquarium breeding for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Risks and Disease: Guidance about risks and disease for Odontodactylus scyllarus must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Odontodactylus scyllarus is widely distributed across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Japan, Guam, and northern Australia. It inhabits sandy, muddy, and rubble zones of coral reefs at depths of 3 to 40 meters, building complex U-shaped burrows.
Origin
Tropical oceans and reefsAfrica and MadagascarEast AsiaAustralia, New Guinea, and Oceania
Invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Ecological role
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 17 cm
- Jump risk
- No verified data available
- Shock sensitivity
- No verified data available
- Calcium and minerals
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Compatibility & tankmates
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 17 cm. The MOBS marine organism body-size database source reports a maximum adult measurement of 17 cm for this species, recorded as the dataset's reported length dimension. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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