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Well, nature has its revenge. The Lysiosquillina maculata that struck me last week tried it again, but this time hit the top edge of the container and broke its dactyl. There is a lesson to be learned here. The dactyl of a spearer is not designed to strike hard objects and the defensive strike is just that - defensive in nature. The strike with a closed dactyl delivers a sharp blow to fish, octopus, other stomatopods, etc., but the dactyl can be easily broken when it contacts a hard target. Similarly, a stab with an open dactyl is risky because if a large predator or competitor is impaled, the entire appendage can be ripped off.
Roy
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