Mantis shrimp are small creatures with super powers.
Mantis shrimp are not actually shrimp but cousins of shrimp called Stomatopods. One of their superpowers – their punches – has made them popular on the internet. Hollywood couldn’t invent a superhero like this, although it tried: superman was said to move faster than a speeding bullet.
There are approximately 450 species of mantis shrimp worldwide. The one pictured is the peacock mantis shrimp that ranges in size from two to seven inches. Look at those eyes! Divided eyes give them binocular vision through a single eye. Their specialized limbs and intricate designs on their antennae, and a tail fan, all identify them as Stomatopods.
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!
Mantis shrimp have 10 appendages for walking and swimming plus two modified legs in the front of their body that they use to attack their prey (called raptorial appendages). These club-like arms fold underneath their bodies and look like the front legs of a praying mantis, hence their name mantis shrimp.
Their claws don’t just spear. They can stab, smash and bludgeon prey. They are both fast and powerful. This small predator uses its spring-loaded, powerful claws to smash prey, like the shells of other crustaceans and molluscs, with the acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet (60 miles/hour) – think Superman! Or put another way, 50 times faster than the blink of an eye. Watch this video below:
They Pack a Punch
Amazingly, the force of the punch can be up to 200 pounds. Even though stomatopods are small, it’s the strongest punch of any creature in the animal kingdom. The combination of the force and acceleration is so great that the water movement results in a low-pressure area (cavitation) that then forms a shockwave of bubbles that collapses, producing a burst of sound and light in a phenomenon called sonoluminescence. This happens in milliseconds. Those tiny bubbles can reach the temperature of the surface of the sun!
This illustration shows how the mantis shrimp uses its striking claw. The saddle, a mineralized spring, stores energy.
