Odontodactylus scyllarus

Overview

DigiMorph’s expert account describes a green, blue and pink peacock mantis shrimp inhabiting warm Indo-Pacific waters and constructing U-shaped gravel burrows. Its rounded raptorial heels hammer prey. Rapid movement can generate cavitation; bubble collapse produces additional forces following the mechanical strike.

The Lizard Island Field Guide identifies leopard-like spots on the front sides of the carapace and a smashing club. Its size account spans three to eighteen centimetres. Roy Caldwell’s collections from 1986–97 included this species in rubble-built burrows at ten to twenty metres; those records are local observations, not a universal depth requirement.

DigiMorph documents an uncatalogued female scanned on 24 March 2004, supplied by Adam Summers. Sheila Patek and Summers provide the expert species annotation. The CT specimen is anatomical evidence, while the proposed coloured adult is an imagined interpretation and does not reproduce that specimen or its scan.

Origins & earliest records

Expert anatomical annotation complements an institutional field guide with named collection observations.

Evidence & interpretation

Diagnostic spots and club form identify the subject; field depths and the scanned female retain local provenance.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Odontodactylus scyllarus

   Patek and Summers · 2005

2. 02

   Lizard Island Field Guide

   Anne Hoggett

Family, evolution & connections

Taxonomic classification

A hierarchy of classified groups, not a chain of direct ancestors.

Source note: The field guide assigns an odontodactylid stomatopod; no divergence date is inferred.

1. OrderStomatopoda
2. FamilyOdontodactylidae

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Expert institutional anatomyOdontodactylus scyllarusResearch access: 2026-10-11
2. Retained indexed field diagnosisLizard Island Field GuideResearch access: 2026-10-11

Image credits

AI stomatopod with club-like forelimbs and anterior carapace spots.

AI scientific interpretation of an imagined peacock mantis shrimp.