Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp, Lysiosquilla manningi

Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp, Lysiosquilla manningi. Length: 16 cm (6.2 inches). Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Phylogeny: The Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp, Lysiosquilla manningi (Boyko, 2000), is a  member of the Lysiosquillidae Family of  Mantis Shrimp.  Lysiosquilla is one of two genera in the Lydiosoquillidae Family, and it is composed of sixteen species. They are also known as Ray Manning’s Lysiosquilla and in Mexico as Estomatópodo de Manning. The genus name Lysiosquilla comes from a combination of Greek and Latin words meaning “loosening shrimp”. This refers to these shrimps ability to quickly dismember their prey. This species is named in honor of the American carcinologist Raymond B. Manning, who specialized in stomatopods. Manning described, or co-described, 306 species, 153 genera, 5 subfamilies, 19 families, and 3 superfamilies during his career.  Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp are considered spearing mantis shrimps, which  are also known as “thumb splitters” because of their ability to cause injury if handled improperly.

Note: The Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp is a recently described species and earlier sources sometimes conflate it with other species such as the Queen Lizard Mantis Shrimp, Chloridella dubia, for which Lysiosqulla desaussrei is a synonym. This has lead to some inaccurate reports related to size and distribution.

Morphology: Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp are fairly slender in build. They are light to dark gray in color, with black bands the anterior margins of their tail segments. The raptorial claws are white. They have a rounded telson, with minor serrations along its posterior margin. Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp reach a maximum of 17.5 cm (6.5 inches) in length.

Habitat and Distribution:  Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp reside in deep burrows in sand and mud substrates at depths between 1.5 m (5.0 feet) and 50 m (160 feet). Manning Striped Shrimp are a subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species. They are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception they are absent from the northern Gulf of California.

Diet:  Manning Striped Mantis Shrimps are ambush predators, feeding on small fish and other small soft-bodied invertebrates.

Predators:  Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp are prey for a wide variety of large bottom-feeding fish.

Reproduction:  Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp  are gonochoric (either male or female for life). They reproduce sexually. The males have sperm ducts, rather than spermatophores. The females can produce tens of thousands of eggs. The females carry the eggs until they hatch. Once the eggs hatch the hatchlings drift around as plankton for a few months before settling to begin their benthic life.

Ecosystems Interactions: Reports of Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp sharing their burrow with other species, or of other forms of commensalism has not been documented.

Human Interaction:  While many species of mantis shrimps are consumed as a human food substance, Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp populations  are too sparse to be targeted as a food species. They are caught as a bycatch by shrimp trawlers which may have some impact on local populations. From a conservation perspective they are currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.

Synonyms: The Manning Striped Mantis Shrimp was first described in the year 2000, and there are no synonyms for this species.