---
title: Zebra Mantis Shrimp (Lysiosquilla maculata)
scientific_name: Lysiosquilla maculata
common_name: Zebra Mantis Shrimp
taxon: Mantis shrimp
published: 2026-08-06T11:09:24.424Z
updated: 2026-08-20T17:09:46.029Z
tags: Zebra Mantis Shrimp, Lysiosquilla maculata, Mantis shrimp, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/mantis-shrimp/zebra-mantis-shrimp
---

# Zebra Mantis Shrimp (*Lysiosquilla maculata*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Mantis shrimp (*Stomatopoda*)
- **Size:** up to 40 cm
- **Depth:** 1-30 m
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Uncommon
- **Habitat:** Vertical burrows in sand and rubble flats
- **Hazard:** Dangerous

## How to recognise it

- bold dark and cream banding along the whole body
- spearing claws lined with long barbed spines
- only the head and eyes usually visible at a burrow mouth
- length up to 40 cm

The largest mantis shrimp on these reefs, reaching about 40 cm (16 in), banded along its whole length in dark brown and cream - the pattern that gives it the zebra name and makes an exposed animal unmistakable. The raptorial claws are spearers rather than clubs: folded blades lined with long barbed spines, built to impale soft prey instead of shattering shells.

It lives in a vertical burrow driven a meter or more into sand and rubble flats, and a pair usually shares one - male and female together, which is unusual in a group known for solitary aggression. Almost all a diver ever sees is a head and two stalked eyes at the burrow mouth after dark, waiting for a fish or shrimp to pass within reach; the strike takes a few thousandths of a second and the animal is back underground before the eye registers it. Handled, a large one can open a serious cut, and there is no reason to reach into the hole. Night dives over sand are the way to meet it, and a slow approach with a dimmed torch will keep it up rather than sending it down the shaft.

## Also known as

- **English:** dotted mantis shrimp, Tiger Mantis Shrimp, Zebra Mantis Shrimp
- **French:** Squille maculée
- **German:** Gepunkteter Fangschreckenkrebs
- **Japanese:** トラフシャコ
- **Chinese:** 十三齒琴蝦蛄
- **Russian:** Полосатый рак-богомол

## Scientific synonyms

- *Cancer caroli* Curtiss, 1938
- *Lysiosquilla miersi* de Vis, 1883
- *Lysiosquillina maculata* (Fabricius, 1793)
- *Squilla maculata* Fabricius, 1793

## Range

Mozambique

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/mantis-shrimp/zebra-mantis-shrimp)*
*Updated: August 20, 2026*