Packing a Punch

thatbrunette — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:56:05 -0800

When you first hear of a shrimp breaking out of it's tank, the prospect isn't really frightening. But when you learn that the mantis shrimp has punched through the glass container, it becomes a little more serious. Not only does the shrimp punch over 50mph, it also boils the water around the punch. UC Berkeley's high speed cameras couldn't even capture the movement, they had to get a little help from the BBC.

Tremble Before the Spearer and the Smasher

BT — Mon, 03 Mar 2003 10:50:09 -0800

Fear the Stomatopod! Assuming the meral spread position is one way in which the mighty mantis shrimp avoids having to use its formidable weaponry. They come in two flavors -- the "spearers," who strike their prey with a superfast, barbed claw, and the "smashers," who wield a club said to pack the force of a .22 caliber bullet. Today these little-known gladiators got some unusually high-profile press for turning up at record size in an unlovely environment.

MetaFilter posts tagged with mantisshrimp

Packing a Punch

Tremble Before the Spearer and the Smasher