Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus)

Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Peacock Mantis Shrimp is a smasher, with club-shaped raptorial appendages. the small crustaceans deliver blows so quickly and forcefully that pockets of seawater vaporize in implosions of light and heat.

An active hunter, it prefers gastropods, crustaceans, and bivalves, and will repeatedly smash its prey until it can gain access to the soft tissue for consumption.

It is reported to have a “punch” of over 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). This is the fastest recorded punch of any living animal. The acceleration is similar to that in a .22 caliber handgun. An acceleration of over 100,000 meters per second squared and speeds of over 20 meters per second , with a force of 1,500 N per strike. In addition, the surface of its appendages is made up of extremely dense hydroxyapatite, layered in a manner which is highly resistant to fracturing. Glass aquarium can be broken by them.

Mantis shrimps have three “pseudo-pupils” stacked one on top of the other. Each eye has independent depth perception. The crustaceans can see beyond humans on both ends of the light spectrum, peering into ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. Mammals have three types of photoreceptor cells, whereas mantis shrimps use a dozen.


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