Mantis Shrimp: a Heavy Hitter

Mantis Shrimp: a Heavy Hitter

Mantis shrimp are the fastest punchers in the animal kingdom and one of the hardest hitters. With one strike they can break aquarium glass or even the shell of the toughest crabs. These guys are only a few inches long but are one of the most deadly creatures in the oceans.

Scientists usually split the mantis shrimp into two groups: smasher or slasher. Each groups' name should suggest the way they strike. The smashers smash and the slashers slash. Well, slashers also pierce. The image below provides a good look into the basic anatomy of a mantis shrimp's extremities. It's easy to tell which mantis shrimp does the slashing and which does the smashing when you look at it this way. The smashers are typically larger than the slashers when it comes to body size.

Mantis Shrimp Smash/Slash
image source

According to National Geographic,

the club’s edge travels at about 50 mph.

and according to this article by the HuffingtonPost,

In less than three-thousandths of a second, the mantis shrimp can strike prey with about 1,500 newtons of force. That number made no sense to me at first too, but here’s some perspective on 1,500 newtons of force. If the human arm could accelerate with one-tenth of that speed (150 newtons), we would be able to throw a baseball into orbit.

If you're prey of the mantis shrimp, it's not likely that you will get away even if you see the strike coming (you most likely won't). On top of their strike speed and force, most species of mantis shrimp are masters of hiding and surprising their potential food. They burrow in the ground (much like bobbit worms) and wait for an unsuspecting prey to swim or walk close enough. This style of getting food is not the case for all mantis shrimp, however. If you were a peacock mantis shrimp (the one in the first picture) you really on your colors to lure prey into you. Either way, if you were selected as food for the time being, you're their food.

Slasher Mantis Shrimp
Image source