Mantis shrimp use fluorescence as a visual signal!

In May of 2002 a research team led by Charlie Mazel discovered and videotaped fluorescence in a mantis shrimp in the Bahamas (see below to access the video). The discovery led to collaborative research into the contribution of the fluorescence to the color pattern of the animal, and a paper on that subject was published in the journal Science in January 2004. On this page:

• The animal
• The discovery
• The research
• The paper
• The video - see the fluorescing mantis shrimp capture a fish!

The animal

Mantis shrimp are stomatopod crustaceans that live in tropical and subtropical seas. They are fearsome predators with remarkable vision and a lightning-fast striking appendages. They come in two varieties - smashers and spearers. As the names imply, the smashers have blunt-tipped claws used to stun prey, while the spearers have sharp tips. Some varieties are small, just a few centimeters long, but others can grow up to 30 cm (12 in.).

For more information on mantis shrimp visit The Lurker's Guide to Stomatopods.

The discovery

In May of 2002 Charlie Mazel was leading a small research team at the Caribbean Marine Research Center, Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. The general goal of the project was to explore for novel instances of fluorescence in the sea, and we were finding a variety of shrimp, crabs, anemones, fish, and other critters in which fluorescence had never been documented. On one night dive I was diving under the dock at CMRC testing out a video camera rigged for fluorescence, while my incomparable team (talented artist and diver Sharon McGauley of Key West, Florida, and the irrepressible Joel Albertson of Girdwood, Alaska) had wandered out into the sand to explore. I caught up with them stretched out on the bottom with their lights pointed at an animal filling the opening of a hole in the sand. It was a mantis shrimp, and it had two bright fluorescing spots. I settled in to film it, and was lucky to capture a detailed sequence of the mantis shrimp spearing a fish (see video).

The research

After the trip I sent a copy of the video to Dr. Tom Cronin at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Tom is an expert in mantis shrimp vision, and he was excited about the possible significance of the fluorescent spots. We added Dr. Justin Marshall (University of Queensland, Australia) and Dr. Roy Caldwell (University of California Berkeley) to the team. Justin is also an expert in mantis shrimp vision, and Roy is a leading researcher on mantis shrimp ecology and behavior. We investigated the fluorescence excitation and emission spectra, and how those interacted with the available light at different depths, and with the mantis shrimp visual system. The result of the research was a demonstration that the fluorescent spots are important in the animal's threat display behavior. Details are in the paper.

The paper

The paper 'Fluorescent enhancement of signaling in a mantis shrimp' was published on-line in ScienceExpress on Nov. 13 2003 and in the January 2, 2004, printed version of the journal Science. Papers in Science and ScienceExpress are normally available only by subscription, but a copy of the paper on the Science web site can be freely accessed from this link.

The video

Here it is - a fluorescing mantis shrimp tracking and capturing a foolish fish! Click the image below to view the video (mpeg format, about 1 Mbyte).

Click to see the video!

© Charles Mazel