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.
posted by BT on Mar 3, 2003 - 8 comments