AnimalsCoral Reef
Mantis shrimp Fun facts for kids
Odontodactylus scyllarus
The mantis shrimp lives in burrows near coral reefs in warm seas and eats snails, crabs and clams.
- Where it lives
- in burrows near coral reefs in warm seas
- What it eats
- snails, crabs and clams
- How big it is
- about as long as a hand
Fun facts about the mantis shrimp
The ones Sammy likes best. She tells them in the game, too.
Its punch is one of the fastest in the whole animal world, as fast as a car on a big road, even underwater.
It punches so fast that it makes tiny bubbles that pop with a snap, a flash of light and a burst of heat.
Its punch can crack the glass of an aquarium, so its keepers give it extra thick tanks.
Its eyes have many more kinds of color cells than ours, and it can see special light that we can't see.
Its eyes sit on moving stalks and can look in two different directions at the same time.
It uses its club arms like hammers to smash open snail shells, crab shells and clams.
Its hammer arms are so tough that they can take thousands of hits.
When its hammers wear down, it grows new ones when it changes its shell.
Riddle
Can a friend guess it?
Read the clues to someone, one at a time, without saying the animal. How many clues do they need? Fewer is better, just like in the game.
I live in a burrow I dig in the sand near coral reefs in warm seas.
My eyes sit on moving stalks and can look in two different directions at once.
My eyes can see special light that people cannot see at all.
I smash open snail shells and clams with my two strong hammer arms.
My punch is so fast that it makes bubbles pop, and it can even crack aquarium glass.
Sammy might be thinking of a mantis shrimp.
In Thought Zoo, Sammy picks an animal and you ask her yes-or-no questions to find it. You'll find the mantis shrimp in the Coral Reef adventure.
Play the Coral ReefComing to iPad, iPhone and Android on 12 January 2027
