Mantis shrimp
Oratosquilla oratoria
- Usual depth1–18 m
- Water temperature13–29 °C
- Best monthsJuly
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Serguei S. Dukachev, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
Oratosquilla oratoria, commonly known as the Japanese mantis shrimp, is a species of mantis shrimp found in the western Pacific. It is known as shako in Japan, where it is widely harvested and eaten as sushi. This species is an important commercial fishing target and widely consumed in many countries along the coast of the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Oratosquilla oratoria”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 11 records
- February: 6 records
- March: 5 records
- April: 5 records
- May: 16 records
- June: 7 records
- July: 28 records
- August: 7 records
- September: 14 records
- October: 7 records
- November: 4 records
- December: 15 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 18.7 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 13–29 °C
Photos
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Timur Kalininsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Mantis shrimp, Japanese Mantis Shrimp, Japanese Squillid Mantis Shrimp, Shako Mantis Shrimp
Names in 3 more languages
- Japanese
- シャコ
- Korean
- 갯가재
- Simplified Chinese
- 口蝦蛄, 口蝦蛄 (瀨尿蝦)
Other scientific names: Squilla affinis, Squilla oratoria
Similar species
Spotted Mantis ShrimpCloridopsis scorpio
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 713 open-data records from 1844 to 2025.
- Species data updated November 5, 2026.
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