Marine Biology Facts Found Here

A place for me to share the fun facts I’m learning about marine wildlife and all things oceans

[maggotmuncher0]

[technofeudalism]

fashion is cyclical

[marinewildlifeobsessed]

Peacock Mantis Shrimp!

These little guys are only about 8 inches long at most (mantis shrimp in general are pretty small with the largest of the 400 species, the zebra mantis shrimp being about 15 inches). They live on the seafloor typically in warm, shallow waters like coral reefs.

Now for the crazy shit.

They have an estimated punch speed (yes punch) of 50 mph!! With an impact and acceleration similar to a goddamn bullet. AND NOT ONLY THAT when they punch something called cavitation happens.

Basically cavitation is when small bubbles filled with gas form and when they collapse they release extra heat and light energy. Aka basically bombs.

So to recap. These shrimp punch like a literal bullet and make bombs at the same time. Absolutely wild. They can do this because they have spring loaded joints.

Something else incredibly fun about them is that they have anywhere between about 12-16 photoreceptors (humans only have 3) which mean they can see colors we can’t even imagine. They can also detect polarized light (I would explain if I could but I have no idea my guys it’s light that has waves that vibrate on a single plain so says google idk). Each eye can see in 3 dimensions by itself, independent of each other. (Kind of like seahorse eyes but I’ll post about them later)

But this also means they can see more colors than any animal and they use this to communicate with each other. They do this with special patches on their shell that reflect light and flash colors only other mantis shrimp can see.

And they look LIKE THIS

Fucking gorgeous