HMMMMM FOOD!!!
Squilla mantis usually hunts at night while it stays in its burrow during the day. Squilla mantis would eat just about anything that it can catch with its retractable raptorial limbs. It is not scared of many organisms and it’ll stand its ground against other organisms that it thinks it endangers them. Most other organisms fear its raptorial limbs (not just Squilla mantis raptorial limbs but rest of the Stromatopods’). It would also not hesitate to attack one of its own. But normally Squilla mantis loves to prey on small prawns (shrimp) or other small crustaceans.
As you can see from the picture below, the raptorial limbs have smaller sharp extensions coming off the limb. Those extensions are used to keep the prey from escaping its grip.
Want to look at the difference between a spearer's
limb vs a smasher's limbs?
Click here!
"Fastest Claws of the West" Part I. In parts of this video it talks about the different ways that mantis shrimp hunts. Notice how fast the spearers are as well as how incredibly strong smasher mantis shrimps are.
This is a better video of "smashers". It attacks a crab and as a strategy it rips out the limbs of the crab preventing it from escaping and gets an easy meal for the day.
Read more about the reproduction of Squilla mantis!