Peacock Mantis Shrimp

About

Found across the Red Sea and into the waters around Mayotte in the western Indian Ocean, Gonodactylus chiragra is a mantis shrimp that earns its reputation through sheer attitude. Like all gonodactylid mantis shrimps, this species is a smasher. It dispatches prey using heavily calcified club-like appendages capable of delivering blows with remarkable force relative to its size. In the wild it typically inhabits rocky rubble and reef crevices, retreating into burrows or cavities it claims as its own territory. That territorial nature is something any keeper needs to take seriously. This is not a community invertebrate. It will attack and kill tankmates, including fish, snails, and other crustaceans, given the opportunity. Most keepers house it alone in a dedicated species tank, which lets you actually observe its fascinating behavior without the heartbreak of lost tankmates. It is listed as an invertebrate but note that most mantis shrimps blur the freshwater and marine boundary in hobby databases. This species is marine. Care is rated intermediate, largely because of the housing and feeding considerations rather than water quality demands. If you go in with realistic expectations, it is a genuinely rewarding and endlessly interesting animal to keep.