The mantis shrimp is one of those animals that seem to come straight from the pages of a fantasy or sci-fi novel. These small, fantastically colorful carnivorous crustaceans have one of the most powerful pound-for-pound punches in the animal kingdom. Unlucky prey such as crabs, snails, and oysters don’t stand a chance against the mantis shrimp’s hammer-like dactyl clubs, which store elastic energy in the creature’s compressed muscles. When these spring-loaded raptorial appendages are released, their compression is converted into a huge amount of power.
In a fraction of a second, the mantis shrimp can strike with around 1,500 newtons of force and the same acceleration as a 0.22 caliber bullet. Put another way, the mantis shrimp’s limbs move at nearly 50 miles per hour (80 km/h)—an almost unimaginable speed considering the water resistance. Incredibly, they are even capable of breaking aquarium glass.
The punch of a mantis shrimp is powerful enough to form cavitation bubbles. Essentially, the water around the mantis shrimp moves so quickly that it is vaporized. This process emits a bright light and results in temperatures of around 7,232 °F (4,000 °C). When the cavitation bubbles collapse, an underwater shockwave is produced, killing any nearby prey that somehow survived the mantis shrimp’s first strike.
Remarkably, although the mantis shrimp’s limbs can dismember other crustaceans with minimal effort, this cunning predator’s shell is composed of unique bioceramic and biopolymer materials that absorb the impact energy and keep it from cracking, despite the incredible force of the strike attack. These powerful, resilient limbs have inspired scientists to study the structure of mantis shrimp appendages for future applications in designing tough but lightweight combat body armor.
Beautiful, dangerous, and weird:
- The mantis shrimp’s powerful punching ability is far from the only remarkable thing about this colorful marine creature. The mantis shrimp has arguably the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. Humans have three types of color-receptive cone cells, which collectively help us see a familiar spectrum of colors derived from green, blue, and red. On the other hand, a mantis shrimp has up to 16 types of cone cells. To make matters even weirder, a mantis shrimp’s eyes can move independently, and they can detect the polarization of light, which they may use as a communication method.
- The mantis shrimp is not actually a shrimp (nor is it a mantis). Instead, it is an ancient form of crustacean known as a stomatopod.
- There are around 500 species of mantis shrimp, with a wide range of unique appendages. While some species use appendages that smash, others utilize a slashing or spearing action. Both smashing and slicing stomatopods are capable of inflicting significant damage on people who attempt to grab them and have been responsible for serious hand injuries and even loss of fingers.
