Squilla mantis

Lore & Background

Squilla mantis is a spearer-type mantis shrimp, using spiked, elongated forelimbs to capture soft-bodied prey. It digs burrows in sandy and muddy bottoms near coastlines, remaining in its burrow during the day and emerging at night to hunt and in winter to mate. Its feeding activity is strongly linked to night, and captive specimens refuse food during the day. Adults are strongly sedentary. The species is found around the entire coast of the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic from the Gulf of Cádiz to Angola, as well as around the Canary Islands and Madeira. It has historically been recorded from Galicia, the Bay of Biscay, and the British Isles, but is not known to occur there any more. It is particularly abundant on sandy and muddy bottoms with significant river runoff, such as the outflows of the Nile, Po, Ebro, and Rhône. Reproduction occurs over winter and spring, with gonad maturity peaking in April in the Ligurian Sea and between February and March in the Adriatic Sea. Females attach eggs to their anterior legs using a sticky secretion and incubate them through spring and early summer without leaving their burrows or feeding. The planktonic larvae, called alima, remain in the water column over summer and early autumn, settling on the sea bottom after ten molts. Most S. mantis spawn only once, typically within their second year.

Reader's Guide

Its abundance in shallow coastal areas with muddy or sandy bottoms, particularly near river outflows, has made it a valued by-catch in multi-species trawling for sole and bivalves, as well as a target for trammel nets and gillnets. Catches peak in winter during mating and drop in spring and early summer when females remain in burrows. The fishery is not specifically regulated, as it consists chiefly of bycatch. Ecologically, S. mantis is an opportunistic predator and scavenger, feeding on crustaceans, mollusks, polychaetes, benthic fishes, and algae, and has been observed following fishing boats to feed on dead animals. It also displays cannibalism and feeds on cuttlefish egg masses. The species hosts the alpheid shrimp Athanas amazone in its burrows, a relationship that remains unknown. Its life cycle, with a single spawning event for most individuals and a planktonic larval stage, shapes its population dynamics and fishery patterns. The species is also sometimes sold in the aquarium trade under the name Squilla mantis, though other species may be included.

Did You Know?

• It has two brown eye spots circled in white at the base of the telson, giving it the common name spot-tail mantis shrimp.
• The alpheid shrimp Athanas amazone often lives in the burrows of S. mantis, despite being similar in size to prey the mantis shrimp feeds on.
• Females attach their eggs to their anterior legs using a sticky secretion and do not leave their burrows or feed during incubation.