What is this strange mantis-like coral reef dwelling creature? On the first episode of BBC's Blue Planet II they visited a coral reef and showed some odd reef-dwelling creatures as part of their establishing shots, but did not name the creatures. In particular creature that resembles a mantis: ![Aquatic Mantis]( I tried a Google reverse image search and it very 'helpfully' identified it as "Documentary film". So close, yet so far.

The specimen is indeed a mantis shrimp (to be specific, a peacock mantis shrimp). ![Odontodactylus scyllarus]( ![Mantis Shrimp by Jenny, from Wikimedia Commons](

These predators have highly sophisticated vision and, depending on the species, either spearlike limbs or clubs that move so fast the water can't keep up, causing dangerous cavitational effects that can even break glass.