Discover the Underwater World: Top 12 Fun and Fascinating Facts About Mantis Shrimp!

1. Rainbow Vision Extraordinaire

Behold, the mantis shrimp – a rainbow-fried lobster on psychedelic steroids, with eyesight that makes your 4K Ultra HD television look like a black-and-white cartoon! Not only can they see ultraviolet and polarized light, but these extraordinary aquatic creatures: possess up to 16 photoreceptors, granting them the unique ability to see circularly polarized light, effectively giving them a whole new dimension of vision unheard of in other animals.
Source => phys.org

2. Underwater Speedster Punches

Step aside, Flash, we've got a seriously punchy contender rising from the oceans: The mantis shrimp is capable of striking their prey with a force sometimes producing cavitation bubbles, reaching speeds of 23 meters per second (51 mph) underwater, with recent studies showing that their punches are half as fast when they leave the ocean, hinting at precise control over their striking behavior, dictated by the surrounding medium and limb shock-absorption capabilities.
Source => arstechnica.com

Did you know that the Pacific cleaner shrimp is the diva of the deep blue sea, using its chic white front legs to signal potential clients while removing parasites from its A-list clientele like fish, eels, and turtles? Dive in for more fabulous shrimp facts!

=> Fun Facts about Shrimp

3. Thor-like Hammer Claws

Meet the Thor of the crustacean world, the peacock mantis shrimp: a tiny underwater marvel with a hammer-like claw that packs a punch equivalent to a .22-caliber bullet and delivers a force of 200 pounds, despite being a mere 4 inches long. Thanks to its claw's hydroxyapatite-packed surface and chitosan-strengthened periodic region, it can smash through shells without even breaking a sweat (or whatever the underwater equivalent may be).
Source => nbcnews.com

4. Superhero Trinocular Masks

Forget X-ray vision or infrared goggles, mantis shrimp don their very own superhero masks with eyes that'll put your favorite comic book hero to shame: Mantis shrimp boast trinocular vision, allowing them to see circularly polarized light – a spiral-shaped light pattern – and move their eyes independently, all thanks to structures similar to those found in CD and DVD players!
Source => nationalgeographic.com

5. Sea-dwelling Bruce Lee

If Bruce Lee were a crustacean, he'd undoubtedly be a mantis shrimp: This sea-dwelling martial artist can throw punches that accelerate up to 100,000 meters per second—more than 10,000 times the force of Earth's gravity—generating heat and light with each hit, in a remarkable underwater display known as sonoluminescence.
Source => sbnation.com

6. Polarization Perception Power

While the mantis shrimp may not hold a candle to Superman's X-ray vision or Spiderman's spidey-sense, it does boast a superpower of its own – the "Rainbow Warrior": This crustacean extraordinaire can perceive up to six types of polarization, including two types of circular polarization, granting it an unparalleled view of the underwater world that leaves us mere humans green with envy.
Source => theatlantic.com

7. Olympic Crustacean Vision Masters

If crustacean eyesight were an Olympic sport, the Mantis shrimp would take home all the gold medals and leave every other contender weeping in their goggles: These extraordinary little power-punchers boast the most complex eyes and sensory systems in the animal kingdom, with up to 16 different color photoreceptors that can even detect cancer lesions by sensing differences in polarized light between healthy and cancerous tissues, making them the superheroes of early cancer detection technology.
Source => aquariadise.com

8. Underwater Fashion Critics

Step aside, Superman, the mantis shrimp is here to give you serious competition in the visual department: boasting 16 types of photoreceptors and the ability to see polarized light, UV, and infrared, the mantis shrimp marvelously navigates its world while also being a polarizing fashion-forward underwater critic.
Source => sites.nd.edu

9. Master Burrow Architects

Move over, HGTV: the mantis shrimp are the true masters of home renovation! With claws that can give Thor's hammer a run for its money, these savvy crustaceans don't need a permit to dig the ultimate subaquatic man caves: Mantis shrimp can create intricate burrows up to 2 meters long in sand or mud, complete with multiple entrances, exits, and even supports to reinforce their crafty dwellings – making it the perfect hideout from predators and a cozy nursery for their eggs.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

10. Fast & Furious Shrimp Smashers

Hold onto your shells, folks, because the mantis shrimp is about to give "fast and furious" a whole new meaning: These tiny underwater speed demons can accelerate their "smasher" appendages at a mind-boggling 100,000 meters per second squared, reaching astonishing speeds of up to 31 meters per second (69 mph), all while breaking snail shells without a scratch on their incredible appendages.
Source => americanscientist.org

11. Aquaman's Light Show Assistants

When Aquaman needs a light show at his underwater concerts, there's one crustacean he can count on: the mantis shrimp! Nifty colon: This incredible creature can punch with such force that the water surrounding it heats up to several thousand degrees, creating sonoluminescence, which makes the water glow due to the immense pressure generated by its powerful punch.
Source => sbnation.com

12. Technicolor-Utopia Dwellers

Feeling blue? The mantis shrimp, with its visual rainbow-bragging rights, could put humans to shame by perceiving colors we can't even dream of in a technicolor underwater utopia: Boasting up to 16 photoreceptors, the mantis shrimp's compound eyes can detect a stunning array of colors, including ultraviolet and circularly polarized light, mainly for communication and prey detection in its aquatic habitat, although sadly lacking a celestial GPS.
Source => phys.org