Animalia Stupendium: The Mantis Shrimp

stoved eyes, slender legs, and long antennae. Its appearance compares favorably to other shrimp, though their front appendages resemble the raptorial legs of the also excellent terrestrial insect predator, the preying mantis its namesake ah. But the colors. The so called peacock mantistrimp, for example, is so named because it features bright shades of red, green, orange, and blue. Such a creature would not seem out of place in the chromatic realm, but its eyes are even more curious. What

colors do they see? While human eyes have only three types of photoreceptor cells to process colors, mantishrimp boast between twelve and sixteen. This has led to much speculation on exactly what a mantishrimp sees when it beholds its aquatic world. Might it in fact glimpse colors beyond the realm of human senses. It's entirely possible, but researchers increasingly urge caution on grand generalizations about how and what these curious creatures see.

Without access to a good polymorphs spell, human scientists are largely in the dark. Many mysteries remain. Certainly, mantishrimp may very well recognize subtle coloration differences in other mantishrimp predators or choral environments. It's also possible that color perception is just one part of an elaborate sensory network, and we do it a vast disservice to put too much emphasis on vision. Though this, of course is an understandable mistake

given that we are such sight dependent creatures. Researchers point out that in experiments, some manti shrimps seem to depend more on shape than colorization in judging various targets in their environment. Still, what are those eyes capable of seeing? And how might we claim these powers for our own I have a notion in mind for a pair of

magical goggles. But scientists have explored ways they might technologically mimic manta shrimp eyes to create improved optical sensors to do everything from improved cell phone cameras to aid doctors in the detection and removal of tumors. But let us consider the weaponry of the mantis shrimp. The mantis shrimp makes use of two attacks via its raptorial front appendages,

but the type of damage depends on the species. Some mantis shrimp, including the peacock mantis shrimp pack a pair of dactile clubs which strike with bullet like speeds to kill or stung enemies by impact and or shock wave bludgeoning damage. This paunch is actually fast enough to produce superheated vapor bubbles in the surrounding waters, and these cavitation

forces may apply additional damage. The majority of mantis shrimp, however, have barred frontal appendages to pierce their prey at lower attack speeds, while the clubbing mantis shrimp depend on a spring loaded mechanism. Spearing mantis shrimp are di I did between spring loaded stabbers and active muscle movement stabbers. In either case, the stab happy mantis shrimp varieties ambush their prey from cover, while clubbers launch more of a full

frontal assault. There are more mysteries concerning the mantis shrimp to consider, but for now I must retire my wizard's quill and allow my familiars some respite. But I shall return with even more wonders of the natural world.

the Royal Society b twenty twenty two. And patel at All's Mantis shrimp identify an object by its shape rather than its color during visual recognition, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology twenty twenty one. Thanks as always to the excellent JJ Possway for producing this episode. If you wish to contact Agromandanes with recommendations for future episodes, you can send an email to contact at stuff Blow your Mind dot com.