Invisible Oceans Founder's Collection: Invisible Oceans #11: Mantis II

The Alima larva of Mantis Shrimps all have stalked eyes and it is assumed they have some perception of 3-D vision. As adults they have the most advanced eyes in all the animal kingdom and this amazing degree of complexity seems to begin in these small planktonic larvae. Like the adults, even these larval stages have raptorial limbs like those of a praying mantis. They all snatch prey with amazing speed and power. They are truly efficient predators, even at this early stage of their lives when only the size of a fish scale.

Lizard Island, Australia (1986)

Nikon F2 | Custom Optics | Kodachrome 64