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Figure 1
Cuticle sample geometry and structure. (a) Schematic diagram of a tergite shell from mantis shrimp and the strip samples used in the experiments. (b) Cuticle samples with different geometries. L1 geometry is when the cuticle surface is perpendicular to the X-ray beam and L3 geometry is when the cuticle surface is parallel to the X-ray beam. The dimensions were roughly 3 mm (length), 0.5 mm (width) and 0.3 mm (thickness) for L1-oriented samples; and around 0.5 mm (length), 0.5 mm (width) and 0.3 mm (thickness) for L3-oriented samples. (c) SEM image showing the cuticle microstructure with fibres of different orientations. (d) Schematic diagram showing the Bouligand fibrillar structure.

IUCrJ
Volume 13| Part 1| January 2026| Pages 63-76
ISSN: 2052-2525
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252525009686