Underwater Killer Clown

The world is filled with people who have coulrophobia , the fear of clowns. These fears has been attributed to exaggerated facial and body features. But the clown I am talking about is a colourful looking brutal killer by the name of Mantis shrimp.This little creature at the depths of the ocean taunts and smashes its victims to their quick deaths.

Peacock mantis shrimp shown here in the picture uses its club like limbs to smash open crab shells to aquarium glass and can pack a punch of about 1500 N force.To put that into perspective, a human punch that can split a concrete slab about an inch and a half will have a force of 1900 N. These species are aptly classified as smashers whereas some other relative species ,classified as spearers have sharp spiny appendages that stabs its prey. But what makes these clubs so strong that it does not break on impact ? A video made by the YouTube Channel  Smarter Every Day provides a good explanation for this paradox.

Mantis Shrimps are not only one of the strongest punchers but also are the fastest in doing so. Their punch release is so fast that the sudden pressure difference create  air bubbles called cavitation bubbles which on bursting produces shock waves that further can impact its prey. So even if it misses its mark the shock wave will surely kill its prey. If that was not enough of its punch , these air bubbles burst very rapidly producing heat and light through a phenomenon known as sonoluminescence,which itself is of great interest as nobody in the world have a clear idea on how sonoluminescence works !!! 

To sum it up , Mantis shrimp is a funny looking boxing hero who can even puzzle scientists with what it can do. But they have many more surprises up their sleeves.For instance, their eyes are the most complex and elegant in the entire animal kingdom. They have 2 eyes which can independently move in different directions providing a wide angle vision.Humans have binocular vision with each eye creating a single image each whereas mantis shrimp's eyes produces 3 images each . It can sense a wide range of wavelengths with its 16 colour receptive cones compared to 3 cones humans have that allows us to see our world in Red,Blue and Green. And yes, it can even see polarized light which is a big deal of its own.

Mantis shrimps have a very different view of the world than us, literally. But do they have better vision than us ? The answer is no according to the research conducted by Hanne Thoen at University of Queensland, Brisbane.She and her colleagues showed that they could distinguish not better than colours separated by about 25 nanometers (colours are described in terms of the wavelength associated with it, which are measured in nanometers).In comparison, humans can distinguish even the smallest difference of 1 nanometer. This poor colour perception of these creatures despite the advance photo receptors they possess is pushing science to find better ways of explaining vision itself.

Science is in complete awe in front of this humble being. We still have not found answers for the tonnes of questions posed by these creatures.Why is that these species evolved with the most complex eyes? what is its purpose? why the variable composite club like limbs? and many more questions. Only the future research will unravel the mysteries of the mantis shrimp. 

References:

1.http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp

3.http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/ladybits/mantis-shrimp-vision-not-mindblowing-     you've-been-told

4.http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/01/mantis-shrimp