Animal of the month - The Peacock Mantis Shrimp
If you don't know too much about the Mantis shrimp, the main thing you should know is; THEY ARE COOL AS HELL!
Let's start with their eyes. Why are they so cool?
1. Dogs have two types of color receptive cones. This enables them to see blue, green and a slight bit of yellow.
2. Humans have three types of color receptive cones. Red, blue and green. Our extra red cone means that we can see all of the colors that derive from red.
3. The mantis shrimp has sixteen color receptive cones! SIXTEEN! It is hard for us to imagine what exactly this means because we only see three colors , and the colors that stem from them. Think of it like this, the rainbow that we see and are familiar with, comes from just three colors. So what kind of rainbow can a mantis shrimp see?! Unbelievable! Maybe this is why they are so spectacular to look at!
This means that they can see in to the infrared and ultraviolet range.
Although just this is on it's own is pretty spectacular, what the mantis shrimp is most famous for is the punch that he packs. This tiny little crustacean can punch through shells, poor little fish skulls and even glass! The mantis shrimp's club-like appendages can reach the same speed of a .22 caliber rifle! It can slice human fingers to the bone with ease. Please don't try to test this theory!
The peacock mantis shrimp has these teeny little boxing-glove-like fists that they use to smash their prey, or anything that gets in their way! The Mantis shrimp can throw one of the fastest punches in nature, with the fastest limb movement in the world! Researcher Sheila Patek used a super high speed camera to capture the moment when this little creature does it's thing. Slowed down to just over 800 times, Sheila found that wit each punch the club's edge travels at 50mph.
The cameras revealed even more of a surprise. Each strike is so fast that it emits a small flash of light upon impact. The club moves so fast that it lowers the pressure of the water in front of it, this causes it to boil. This process is callled supercavitation. Small bubbles are released that collapse when the water goes back to it's normal state. This creates massive amounts of energy, making it easy to attack shells or even able to pit boat paddles!
Their limbs are so strong and resilient that researchers have used the make up of their cell structure to improve designs for the body armor of combat troops!
These critters are also smart. It has been noted that they can remember a fight up to one month ago! So don't get on the wrong side of a mantis and then go back to visit a few weeks later, they don't forget!
These are the many reasons why we at Dive Central Gili love and appreciate these amazing annimals. Come on a dive so that we can show you one!
Check out this video bellow for some fun info!
