To achieve these goals, ambush predators use three strategies to capture prey: (1) concealment through burrows or camouflage, (2) quick traverse of a potentially large distance to prey and (3) rapid attack to impact prey before escape. The predator must avoid detection ( Bailey, 1986 Kral et al., 2000 Bilcke et al., 2006 Eskew et al., 2009), attain high accelerations and speeds ( Cooper et al., 1985 Alfaro, 2002 reviewed in McBrayer and Wylie, 2009), and retain some control over strike kinematics ( van Leeuwen et al., 2000 Deban et al., 2001). Although counterintuitive, these findings suggest that ambush predators do not actually need to produce extremely high speeds, and that the very fastest predators are using speed to achieve other mechanical feats, such as producing large impact forces.Īmbush predators minimize the distance between themselves and their prey over short time scales ( Pianka, 1966 Huey et al., 1984 Webb, 1984 Garland and Losos, 1994 Miles et al., 2007 McBrayer and Wylie, 2009). Nonetheless, the strikes of spearers occurred at similar speeds and durations to those of other aquatic predators of evasive prey. We expected ambush predators to strike with very high speeds, yet instead we found that these spearing mantis shrimp struck more slowly and with longer durations than smashers. maculata ambushed evasive prey primarily at night while hidden in burrows, striking with both long and short durations compared with laboratory videos. vicina consistently engages the elastic mechanism. Micro-computed tomography and dissections showed that both species have the spring and latch structures that are used in other species for producing a spring-loaded strike however, kinematic analyses indicated that only A. Using two species with dramatically different adult sizes, we found that strikes produced by the diminutive species, Alachosquilla vicina, were faster (mean peak speed 5.72☐.91 m s –1 mean duration 3.26☐.41 ms) than the strikes produced by the large species, Lysiosquillina maculata (mean peak speed 2.30☐.85 m s –1 mean duration 24.98☙.68 ms). Here, we examined the kinematics, morphology and field behavior of spearing mantis shrimp and compared them with previously studied smashers. Spearers hide in sandy burrows and capture evasive prey, whereas smashers search for prey away from their burrows and typically hammer hard-shelled, sedentary prey. Mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda) consist of both ambush predators (‘spearers’) and foragers (‘smashers’). Ambush predation is characterized by an animal scanning the environment from a concealed position and then rapidly executing a surprise attack.
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