Mantis shrimps are remarkable crustaceans with extraordinary visual systems and powerful strike mechanisms, raising fascinating questions about crustacean cognition and welfare.
Mantis shrimps are among the most cognitively complex crustaceans. Their extraordinary visual system, complex social behaviors, and ability to learn suggest significant neural processing. The LSE sentience review identified mantis shrimps as meeting criteria for likely sentience based on available evidence. They are caught as bycatch and targeted in seafood fisheries, with welfare during capture and killing receiving minimal attention. Captive mantis shrimps in aquariums are solitary and territorial, requiring appropriate space and hiding structures. They can escape or injure handlers, leading to rough handling. Applying precautionary welfare standards given the sentience evidence is warranted.