Brief Summary:
The mantis shrimp is only distantly related to crabs and prawns. Neither a shrimp nor praying mantis, its name is given purely due to its appearance (Debelius 2001). Gonodactylus chiragra attack and smash prey (crabs, snapping shrimps, gastropods) with a pair of calcified, inflated claws (Reaka & Manning 1981). They are aggressive, active predators and can be found in the intertidal zone hiding in coral rubble or rock bench.
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