Think of a boxer. A professional, in the ring boxer. Think of how painful it would be to get clocked in the face by a full strength blow from a professional boxer. Now think of that pain, times it by 100, then boom: you have the strength of a crustacean that is a measly 2 to 7 inches long.
Behold. The animal of today’s episode: Hemisquilla californiensis. Also known as the mantis shrimp. Also known as the boxer of the sea. Also known as Mike Tyson…You get the point.
Mantis shrimp are a kind of crustacean under the stomatopod family. Contrary to popular belief (and its literal name), the mantis shrimp isn’t under the shrimp family. These are carnivorous, savage predators that will destroy anything in the small 2 inch path it creates. It’s the demon of the sea. The scientific marvel of attacking potency, with “THE #1 spot for the strongest punch in the animal kingdom ever recorded.”
Well known for its bullet punch, this shrimp possesses a superpower: the ability to accelerate its club shaped appendages faster than the speed of a bullet. Strong enough to break aquarium glass and shatter it into a million pieces. When you’re hunting other crustaceans or clams, you need those fists to be able to crack glass at least! C’mon now! We’ve learned from the scaly foot gastropod haven’t we?
That’s not all. When it swings its arms, the speed actually creates friction in water! Friction generates heat. And heat can boil water. This guy swings it’s arms so fast that it begins to boil the water that surrounds it, which causes it to evaporate, which causes an air bubble to form, which causes the air bubble to suddenly collapses because of how hot it is, which creates a shockwave, which causes it’s fist to rapidly accelerate forward. This shrimp is not only fast on its own, but its speed is further boosted by an air bubble. Furthermore, for an air bubble to be hot enough to collapse underwater, the bubble needs to be extremely hot. To be completely accurate, as hot as the surface of the sun.
Oh I’m not done. Those little brains of theirs, they don’t look too intelligent do they? All punch no brains? Oh no. No no no. Not at all. After some research, it was clear that they had memory and learning capabilities in their brains. They’re called mushroom bodies and it was only found in insects. But the mantis shrimp is:
- Not an insect
- Absolutely does not care what it is because it will shatter the bones in your finger if you try to dictate what it gets to and doesn’t get to be.
Nobody’s gonna stop this little guy from doing what he wants because he’s got the power and the evidence to back up the fact that he’ll absolutely beat the living daylights out of you.
And that’s only the half of it!
Here’s the other half of this wretched beast. The males have clubs. The females have spears. Yeah, spears. This species has dudes equipped with gatling fists and girls that wield aqua spears. Certain species only pick one kind of weapon, regardless of sex. The Hemisquilla californiensis, however, have different items that are based on their sex. These are native to california. The speared gals will burrow in the sand and when a good fish swims by, they strike! It’ll swing its arms and stab the animal. How terrifying is that?
So. Let’s do a quick recap. Mantis shrimp are a kind of shrimp with a devastating punch and spear. Its swinging speed and acceleration is faster than a bullet. And a punch from a club can devastate any shelled animal. It’s considered the “sstrongest of its verse”, and its speed can cause an air bubble as hot as the surface of the sun to appear. Its speed and strength is well above anything in the animal kingdom and it’s really smart.
How cool is that?
