shipposhack;102040 said:
The difference between a mantis shrimp and a crab is the Mantis will generally be smarter, stronger, and more aggressive. An octopus has a much greater chance of being successful eating a crab than a Mantis Shrimp.
PS - That video is really sad! I was thinking of a (pretty much) full size octo and a mantis that was at most half the size of the octo. My thoughts were reversed from what it really was though. I didn't see any ink from the blue-ring, which seems weird to me. Is it noticeable when they release TTX or is it only through a bite?
I don't think the octopus in that video had a chance to ink, or even see more than a flash of the Mantis before it was too late. It was most likely dead/severely damaged on first contact and the Mantis just kept pounding away to make sure.
There's video of one in the documentary film "Ocean Deep" defending its hole from an Octopus, appears to be a large Bimac. It was much smaller than the octopus, but it kept approaching the octopus, striking it, and running away until the octopus got the point and left it alone.
I've seen a large Mantis chop a damsel right in two, about as fast as this one hit that octopus. Ferocious creatures. I could have had one for free, but I didn't want to find out what would happen to my fingers if I made a mistake.