When most people think of the mantis shrimp, they picture the flashy, rainbow-colored Peacock Mantis Shrimp—the underwater boxer famous for punching clams open with the speed of a .22 caliber bullet.
But lurking beneath the sandy ocean floor is a quieter, more calculating cousin that deserves just as much spotlight. Enter the Spearing Mantis Shrimp (Lysiosquillina maculata).
We captured the stunning shot above during one of our incredible night dives on our recent 4-day "Best of Hurghada" trip (May 13–16, 2026). While the daytime brings out the reef's vibrant bustle, the night belongs to the sand-dwellers and stealth hunters.
If the smashing mantis shrimp is a heavyweight boxer, the spearing mantis shrimp is a patient, highly disciplined night ninja. Here is what makes this pale, ambush predator one of the most fascinating encounters you can have in the Red Sea.
The Ultimate Weapon: Swords for Arms
While smashers use heavily calcified "clubs" to crack shells, spearers have evolved an entirely different arsenal. Their raptorial appendages are lined with sharp, barbed spines that look remarkably like praying mantis legs—or a pair of serrated switchblades.
Plaintext
Smashers = Blunt force clubs (for snails, crabs, clams)
Spearers = Barbed, multi-pronged spears (for soft, fast fish)
Because they hunt soft-bodied, fast-moving prey like fish and shrimp, they don't need crushing power. Instead, they need grip. Once those barbed spears pierce a fish, the backward-facing spines ensure there is absolutely no escape.
Master of the Sand Burrow
Unlike their colorful cousins who wander coral reefs looking for a fight, spearing mantis shrimp are masters of the waiting game, making them a thrilling find on sandy night dives.
- The Lair: They dig deep, vertical burrows in the sand or mud, sometimes stabilizing the walls with a mucus-like secretion to keep them from collapsing.
- The Camouflage: As you can see in our photo, they are beautifully camouflaged in shades of white, cream, and mottled brown to match the sandy seabed perfectly.
- The Lookouts: They sit at the very edge of their burrow, burying their bodies completely. Only their highly advanced, alien-like stalk eyes peer out over the rim, scanning the water column for an unsuspecting meal.
Superhuman Vision in the Dark
You can't talk about any mantis shrimp without mentioning their eyes. They possess some of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom. While humans have three types of color-receptive cones, mantis shrimp have up to 12 to 16.
They can see ultraviolet light, infrared light, and even polarized light. For a spearer waiting in a dim burrow at night, this incredible vision allows them to spot the shimmering, reflective scales of a fish passing overhead, even in pitch-black conditions.
Lightning-Fast Strikes
When a target swims just a little too close to the burrow, the spearer strikes.
Using a specialized "spring-loaded" mechanism in their joints, they latch their muscles, build up massive amounts of tension, and release it in a fraction of a second. The strike happens underwater in just a few milliseconds—so fast that the human eye literally cannot track it without high-speed cameras.
Before the fish even realizes it’s in danger, it has been impaled and dragged down into the dark depths of the burrow.
A Surprisingly Dedicated Partner
Here is a fun twist about these terrifying predators: many larger species of spearing mantis shrimp (which can grow up to a foot long!) are monogamous.
They find a mate and can stay together in the same burrow for up to 20 years. They share the workload, too. Typically, the larger male does the hunting to feed both of them, while the female focuses on caring for and cleaning the eggs. Talk about relationship goals in the deep blue sea!
Spot Them with Us
The ocean floor might look like an empty desert of sand at night, but beneath the surface lies a bustling, highly tactical world. Spotting a spearing mantis shrimp tracking your dive light with its independent, rotating eyes is a true Red Sea highlight.
Missed out on our May trip? Keep an eye on our Upcoming Trips —there is always something incredible waiting to be discovered under the cover of darkness!