Northwest Dive Club

No official word but it sure looks like a huge mantis shrimp. Maybe Greg can give us some info. The article says its 18" long. If so this guy could pack one hell of a punch! The size of that tail could feed 4 or more! http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/p ... ite-catch/

You have to be weary of these types of photos. Usually the catch is way closer to the camera than the hand. Notice how the hand is less in focus than the beastie in this pic. Let us know if it is confirmed!

yep, it's a mantis shrimp but I don't have references at hand to say what species. I'd already seen some of the silly stuff about "unknown mutant lobster" etc.
Internally, these things are not at all like a lobster. Most of the 'guts' are in the tail, so there really isn't anywhere near as much muscle (meat) in there as you would think.

Greg, do these things really get that big? Do their destructive abilities grow with size?

They do get that big- at least there's one in the Indo-Pacific that reaches that size. Need to get back to the office to see if there are any that large in Florida.
There are two basic types: smashers and spearers. The ones you hear most about are the smashers, as they are the ones breaking aquarium glass and clubbing poor crabs into a pulp. Smashers are usually found on reefs and dependent on more ready-made shelters, so tend to be smaller. Spearers often inhabit open bottoms where they construct burrows so are less constrained in size. (One exception is the big Hemisquilla found in southern California, which is a smasher but makes a burrow).
Their ability to inflict damage does increase with size. The one in the photo is almost certainly a large spearer, which could do quite a number on your hand if you got careless. There's a reason they're called "split thumbs".

I saw a really big one in Lembeh Straits last year. Could only see the head sticking out of a hole about the size of my fist ... no idea how much body there was behind that head. It looked different than the mantis shrimps we're all so used to seeing though ... the eyes were more oblong ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)