Q: My son and I caught this creature entangled in our line while flounder fishing in Bogue Sound off Swansboro, North Carolina. We had noticed that all our bait had the faces chewed off when we pulled this up. We think this may be a mantis shrimp. We threw it back, not knowing if it had a size limit or was even legal to keep. Are they common in the Bogue Sound area? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Denny and Sean O'Neil
Hubert, North Carolina

A: The person holding that critter is lucky! Your catch is a mantis shrimp, sometimes called a "thumb-splitter" for good reason! While I can't be certain of the species, it appears to be Squilla empusa. Mantis shrimp are active predators and may have been responsible for eating your bait. I once caught one that attacked the plug I was casting for redfish. They can extend their specialized claws with amazing force and speed, just below that of a .22 caliber bullet! Mantis shrimp have shattered glass or Plexiglas aquarium panes. Some mantis shrimp have claws designed to deliver stunning blows to prey or potential predators; others — such as yours — have claws with spikes that can impale prey or even cut them in half. I read an account of one individual who indirectly lost a finger to a mantis shrimp. The deep wound he received became infected, which eventually required an amputation. A friend of mine had a large mantis shrimp hit a rubber-soled sandal hard enough that it couldn't disengage its claw afterwards; the claw was embedded 1/4 inch in the rubber. Mantis shrimp can be fairly common in good habitat. The largest ones grow to more than a foot long and are sometimes eaten by humans, although I've never tried one. — Ray Waldner