Meeting Abstract
Mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda) strike prey using an elastic mechanism in their raptorial appendages. Across species, adult mantis shrimp use appendages that range up to 4 cm in length, while their larvae strike using raptorial appendages that are only 1 mm in length. Making use of this impressive size range, we examined the scaling of morphology and kinematics of the elastic mechanism in adult and larval mantis shrimp raptorial appendages. We filmed raptorial appendage strikes in larval Philippine mantis shrimp (Gonodactylaceus falcatus; 2 animals, 6 strikes) and found that they accelerate at an average of 1.6×105 rad/s2 with a maximum angular velocity of 308 rad/s, similar to adult strikes. However, the speed of larval strikes (0.33 m/s) is slower than adult mantis shrimp (2.1-20.2 m/s). We also examined the morphology of larval raptorial appendages using microCT scans and compared them to adults. Adult mantis shrimp use muscles to store elastic energy in the merus exoskeleton, while internal latches release the strike. We found that larvae possess similar muscle and latch arrangements as adults, which suggests that larvae also store and release elastic energy using a spring and latch mechanism. By establishing strike kinematics and morphology of larval mantis shrimp, we offer insights into the scaling of the mantis shrimp elastic energy storage mechanism.
