22 calibre bullet – and with a force some 100 times that of its weight, making it the strongest self-powered strike by an animal. That's 50 times faster than the blink of an eye, or about the same as the trajectory of a.
If threatened, the peacock mantis shrimp can whip out these appendages at speeds of 23 m/sec (75 ft/sec). Folded away beneath its body – much in the way that terrestrial praying mantises tuck their limbs beneath them – is a pair of lethal, club-like front legs, or "dactyls". Native to coral reefs and other shallow-water habitats in the Pacific and Indian oceans, the species grows no more than 18 cm (7 in) long and weighs around 0.6 kg (1 lb 5 oz) – about as heavy as a basketball.īut it's a highly aggressive, territorial creature and doesn't take kindly to strangers invading the nooks and crevices that it calls home. Its shell is a stunning kaleidoscope of green, orange, blue and red (hence its common names, which also include "harlequin mantis shrimp" and "painted mantis shrimp"), while leopard-like spots adorn its legs AdvertisementsĪt first sight, the peacock mantis shrimp might not appear intimidating.
Stomatopods are some of the most ancient animals on Earth, their evolution pre-dating the dawn of the dinosaurs by around 170 million years. Your shells can't save you now.ĭespite its common name, the mantis shrimp is not actually a shrimp but a stomatopod, distantly related to lobsters and crabs. Crabs, clams and other hard-bodied sea-life – be very afraid.
0 kommentar(er)
