Are mantis shrimps related to Playing Manitses...

[yabbie]

I was just wondering if mantis shrimps are related to playing mantis's. I think I read somewere that they are... But i read on the net that they got there name because they hold the Claws/arms like Praying Manitises do :confused:

[Gonodactylus]

Common names usually don't tell us that much about relationships - just that one animal might remind us of another. A dog and a shark (even though we have dogfish) are about as closely related as a mantid is to a mantis shrimp. In Spanish, stomatopods are sometimes known as Alacron del Mar - sea scorpion. They aren't relaled to scorpions either, but the pain caused by being stabbed by the sharp spines reminded fishermen of being stung by a scorpion.

Mantids and stomatopods are both arthropods, but that is as far as it goes. In English, the raptorial appendages of the mantid and stomatopod seemed similar, so stomatopods became "mantis shrimp". They are not shrimp and they are not related to mantids. The mantid uses its forelegs to strike and it does so overhand. The stomatopod uses it second pair of maxillipeds (mouth appendages - not walking legs) to strike underhand at prey.

Stomatopods split off from other crustaceans around 400 million years ago. They form their own order and we really aren't that certain to which other groups of crustaceans they are most closely related.

Roy

[hEcToR1520]

Just wanted to let you know, it is said ALACRAN, which is the correct word for scorpion :D

[yabbie]

:uzi: :fish1: