Mantis Shrimp - the Biggest Puncher on the Planet
Transcript
00:00 The most advanced eyes in the world, incredible agility, sharp claws and bullet speed punch,
00:04 this animal has them all.
00:06 The mantis shrimp.
00:07 I'm Mario and this is "M from Animals".
00:10 Being a crustacean, the mantis shrimp looks like a shrimp and a mantis combined, but it's
00:19 not that closely related to any of them.
00:21 It is also called stomatopod, but don't worry, I'll call it mantis shrimp.
00:25 Typically they are about 10 cm in length, but a few can reach up to 38 cm and the largest
00:31 mantis shrimp ever caught measured 46 cm.
00:34 There are about 400 known species which are categorized in two major groups, spearers
00:40 and smashers, but I'll talk about their differences a little bit later.
00:44 Now let's talk about what they have in common.
00:45 They are amazing guys.
00:47 Each eye can move independently in different directions.
00:50 And more fascinating is that each eye has three pupils.
00:53 Whilst our vision is called binocular, the mantis shrimp's vision is called hexnocular.
00:58 Not only does it have more pupils, but it also has 16 types of color receptive cones,
01:03 while humans have just three.
01:05 Being able to detect different wavelengths of light from infrared to ultraviolet light,
01:09 it can see 10 times as many colors as we can.
01:12 Imagine seeing colors you can't imagine.
01:14 That's how the mantis shrimps see the world.
01:17 Also it is the only animal that can detect circular polarized light.
01:20 To understand this, you must know that humans and other animals see reflected light which
01:24 goes straight, while the mantis shrimp can see the reflected light going in a circular
01:28 path, giving it a huge advantage.
01:31 Reflecting the polarized light with its fins, it prevents other males not to come too close
01:35 or attracts females' attention and doesn't get spotted by predators.
01:39 By the way, scientists use the same principle as the mantis shrimp to detect circular polarized
01:43 light which can be used for detecting cancerous cells.
01:47 After attracting the female using polarized light and after mating, some mantis shrimps
01:50 can stay together for as long as 20 years.
01:54 Quick fact.
01:55 The female mantis shrimp makes a ball from her 50,000 eggs and keeps it between her claws
01:59 and fins protecting them.
02:00 She won't eat until the eggs hatch.
02:02 That's what I call to be on diet.
02:04 And now let's go back to the two categories of mantis shrimps.
02:07 Spearers have big claws with very sharp spines.
02:09 They hunt on aquatic animals with softer bodies like fish.
02:13 The spearer hides in the sand and when the prey comes close enough, it quickly spears
02:17 the prey with its sharp claws like a ninja, except ninjas have swords.
02:21 That's pretty interesting.
02:23 But let's talk about the cool mantis shrimps.
02:26 The smashers.
02:27 They are called like this because they punch the prey like a boxer.
02:30 But these aren't arms, they are a part of its mouth.
02:33 And this isn't the only difference between a mantis shrimp and a boxer.
02:36 The boxer can't punch with the speed of a bullet.
02:39 The mantis shrimp's hammer can accelerate to 20 meters per second or 72 kilometers per
02:44 hour in just 2 milliseconds.
02:45 If the fact that mantis shrimp's punch is as fast as a bullet hasn't blown your mind,
02:49 you should consider that the mantis shrimp does this in water.
02:53 Have you ever tried to run in water?
02:55 The force applied is equal to 1500 newtons or 150 kilograms.
03:00 Using a strong punch, the mantis shrimp would crack a snail shell or a crab's exoskeleton.
03:06 Also it uses its hammer to defend itself from other predators like the world's most venomous
03:11 octopus, the blue-ringed octopus.
03:14 The predator becomes the prey.
03:16 The mantis shrimp is extremely territorial, fighting with other mantis shrimps for its
03:20 burrow.
03:21 These fights usually end with one of them dead.
03:24 But in order to release such a big quantity of energy in its punch, the mantis shrimp
03:28 has to store it somewhere.
03:30 When the hammer is bent, the energy is mostly stored in a structure which has a hyperbolic
03:34 paraboloid shape.
03:35 This kind of structure is also used in architecture because it is very strong and in mantis shrimps
03:40 it stores 30 newtons.
03:42 And the mantis shrimp has a surprise for you.
03:44 It can open the hammer to reveal a sharp sword to spare.
03:48 But that's not all.
03:49 Watching the mantis shrimp's punch in slow motion, we can see that during the impact
03:52 is formed a cavitation bubble which doesn't contain water.
03:56 It is formed due to the very low pressure and when it collapses, it punches the prey
04:00 in two more times.
04:01 These two invisible punches release a temperature of 7000 degrees Celsius, which is hotter than
04:06 the surface of the sun.
04:08 Cavitation bubbles can break the mantis shrimp's hammer after some time, but it will regenerate
04:12 body parts and will shed and regrow the exoskeleton.
04:15 After a period in which the mantis shrimp will be vulnerable to its new soft exoskeleton
04:20 and unable to punch, the exoskeleton will become more rigid and the mantis shrimp will
04:24 be able to punch again with the speed of a bullet to keep its reputation as the biggest
04:29 puncher on the planet.
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04:35 Thanks for watching!