Individuals grow up to 200 millimetres (8 in) long,[2] and this mantis shrimp is of the spearer type.

[4] Other species – including smashers – are also sold in the aquarium trade as Squilla mantis.

[5] S. mantis digs burrows in muddy and sandy bottoms near the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent warm parts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

[6] It is found around the entire coast of the Mediterranean, and in the Atlantic Ocean south from the Gulf of Cádiz to Angola, as well as around the Canary Islands, and Madeira.

In the Mediterranean, the outflows from the Nile, Po, Ebro and Rhône provide these conditions.