The ‘six-eyed’ stomatopod

Abstract

Stomatopods (mantis shrimps) possess one of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom. Each eye is capable of monocular distance judgement, colour vision involving eight or more primary channels and polarisation vision. This involves a series of eye movements unique among the crustaceans. Furthermore, each eye usually acts almost entirely independently of the other. Colour, in particular, seems to be important to stomatopods. Many live in spectrally diverse tropical coral reef habitats and possess coloured markings which are used in communication between and within species.