Travel Award Reports

Behavioural ecology and navigation in peacock mantis shrimp

Martha M. M. Daniel

University of Bristol

This November, I spent 20 days in the Maldives observing and recording the secret lives of peacock mantis shrimp, together with my colleague and dive master, Dr. Matteo Santon. These captivating little predators are most famous for their ability to punch faster than sound, which produces vacuum bubbles, light, and heat. They also have complicated eyes that have fascinated several generations of scientists and continue to challenge our imaginations. Still, we do not know how these animals move through and interact with their wild habitats. Such insights would provide much-needed context for past research about how mantis shrimp see their world, while also enabling new experiments that explore visual attention and decision-making.

Peacock mantis shrimp peering out from under a shelter. (Photo by Matteo Santon)

Our quest was to address this gap in knowledge, since the second stage of my PhD work focuses on the navigation of mantis shrimp. The fieldtrip proved both a rewarding and exhausting undertaking. From the day after our arrival on Kuredu Island, Matteo and I embarked on two 90-minute SCUBA dives each day, armed with GoPros on selfie sticks and a plan that we knew would change during every dive.

On some dives, I spent the entire 90 minutes waiting for a mantis shrimp to leave its burrow, which entailed lying as still and low as possible, not too close but not too far away. On other dives, I spent the whole time swimming against a current to follow the mantis shrimp with a GoPro, being careful not to loom like a potential predator. The animals would often disappear from view, requiring us to anticipate from which hole they might emerge, and how soon.

A mantis shrimp just left its burrow. Can you find it?

In the end, we came away with more video data than I had ever dared to hope for. By the third day of the trip, we had been lucky to find four mantis shrimp living in the same small stretch of reef, their burrows located only a few meters apart. This was an opportunity not to be missed, so we visited the same area of reef on every dive, until we ourselves were feeling at home there. As the individual personalities and conflicts of these animals unfolded, it became apparent that mantis shrimp use their habitats in a much more dynamic and complex way than we anticipated.

However, to really show this, I also need to create a 3D map onto which I will be able to plot the positions of the mantis shrimp as they moved through the habitat. For this, we built a simple two-camera rig that allowed us to collect overhead videos of the reef. I cannot wait to plot the tracks of these animals and explore the patterns that stand to emerge!

A swan as Maldivian palm-frond art. This gift was made by Eugene, one of the Dive Masters at Prodivers Maldives, to thank me for presenting about our work to them.

Profile:
I am in the second year of my PhD program, which is based at two universities, the University of Bristol, UK, and Macquarie University, Sydney, AU. My supervisors are Dr. Martin How in the Ecology of Vision Group (Bristol) and Dr. Ajay Narendra in the Ecological Neuroscience Group (Macquarie). I came to this PhD project with separate experiences in both marine biology and sensory behaviour research, so it is exciting to finally be combining the two.

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Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33

12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May

REGISTER HERE

Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)

The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.

The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.

Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.

To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.

The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.

Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy

The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.

The role involves:
-          Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
-          Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
-          Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
-          Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
-          Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
-          Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS

The usual term for Council members is three years.

For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council

For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards

If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk

NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025

The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. The agenda will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join.

To participate, please complete your registration here.

For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk