This long and quite unmistakeable crustacean is a member of the family Squillidae and can grow to a maximum length of 20 cm. The body is covered in a dull whitish yellow carapace veering to brown, with purplish streaks. It is semi-transparent, so that in spring the gonads and eggs can be seen lying along the animal’s back. On the head are two mobile antennae and two other appendages, at the ends of which are located the greenish eyes, while at the bottom of the abdomen, near the tail, are two characteristic almost round dark patches. These are surrounded by a whitish ring that makes them look like eyes, probably serving to confuse potential predators. The mantis shrimp has a number of other appendages along its thorax – some used in locomotion (it can move extremely swiftly), some used to dig the tunnels where it lives and others designed to grasp its prey. The mantis shrimp is a solitary, nocturnal animal and lives on sandy or muddy, preferably coastal seabeds, even at considerable depth (up to 200 m). It feeds on small fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates, but can also scavenge dead animals. It is mainly fished with bottom trawl nets and gillnets, but the only form of fishing that can ensure it is not damaged uses traps, a particularly common technique in the Gulf of Trieste. Mantis shrimps are caught throughout the year and the minimum size is 7 cm.