Skip to main content

Ad

nature-iconNature
clock-iconPUBLISHEDSeptember 1, 2014

Pistol Shrimp Claw In Slow Motion

guest author image

Justine Alford

Guest Author

article image
budak, IMG_0802, via Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

We all know that the claws of the unassuming mantis shrimp pack a punch, to say the least, but they’ve got a feisty competitor for the award of most badass crustacean: the pistol shrimp.

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The pistol shrimp, or snapping shrimp, sports a giant claw that can snap shut at speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). They snap this claw so fast that it produces a loud noise accompanied by a cavitation bubble where water should be. There is so much negative pressure inside this bubble that the water crashes back down, kicking out a serious amount of heat and light. Earth Unplugged managed to capture some cool footage of these powerful claws in action, check it out in slow motion here: 

 

 


Written by 

Add us as a Google preferred source to see more of our
trusted coverage in Search