The animal that punches like a bullet and sees impossible colors
This animal throws the fastest punch on Earth — and sees colors you can't even imagine.
Which one is REALLY true about the Mantis Shrimp?
The short version
The mantis shrimp's club-arms strike at the speed of a bullet, boiling the water and cracking shells and aquarium glass. Its eyes have 16 colour receptors (we have 3) and can see ultraviolet, infrared and polarized light.
You could line up about 4 of them along a 7-year-old!
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Mantis Shrimp throws the fastest punch on Earth, at the speed of a bullet.
- ✓The Mantis Shrimp punches so hard it briefly boils the water and flashes light.
- ✓The Mantis Shrimp can shatter aquarium glass and crack a crab's shell in a single hit.
- ✓The Mantis Shrimp sees with 16 colour receptors — while humans have only 3 — including ultraviolet and polarized light.
The full story
This animal throws the fastest punch on the entire planet, and it sees colors that you literally cannot imagine. Meet the mantis shrimp. Its club-like arms snap forward at the speed of a bullet, hitting so hard that the water around its fist briefly boils and creates a tiny flash of light. That punch can shatter aquarium glass and crack a crab's shell in a single hit. But the truly weird part is its eyes. While you and I see color using just three types of receptors, the mantis shrimp has sixteen. It can see ultraviolet, infrared, and even polarized light. A whole secret rainbow that is completely invisible to us. Scientists are even studying its strange eyes to build better cameras and cancer scanners. A tiny, rainbow-colored, glass-breaking alien. Follow for more weird animals.
The shrimp's club isn't powered by muscle alone. Muscles slowly bend a tiny springy, saddle-shaped piece of its shell, storing energy like a loaded bow, while a little latch holds it in place. When the latch lets go, all that energy releases at once, so the club shoots out at the speed of a bullet. It moves so fast the water behind it can't keep up and briefly turns to vapor, making bubbles that collapse with a flash of light and a burst of heat, adding a second hit. (Its eyes really do have up to 16 color receptors, but scientists found it doesn't see colors more finely than we do; it uses the extra receptors to recognize colors super-fast instead.)
📚 Source: Mechanics of Movement: Mantis Shrimp - Patek Lab, Duke University ↗Scientists at Duke University filmed the strike with high-speed cameras (plus force and sound sensors), clocking the club at 12-23 meters per second and catching the tiny flashes of light made when the cavitation bubbles collapse.
📚 Source: Mechanics of Movement: Mantis Shrimp - Patek Lab, Duke University ↗Check what you learned
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“The Mantis Shrimp throws the fastest punch on Earth, at the speed of a bullet.”
“The Mantis Shrimp spends most of its life out of the water, walking and climbing on dry land.”
“The Mantis Shrimp punches so hard it briefly boils the water and flashes light.”
Watch the 45-second version
Mantis Shrimp gallery
