Mantis shrimp start practicing their punches at just 9 days old
This article is about the mantis shrimp that has a mean punch. These mantis shrimp can
punch up to 110 kilometers per hour or roughly 68 miles per hour. Researchers were trying to see
how early or how soon these shrimp first began launching their super punches. To do this,
researchers collected these microscopic creatures roughly the size of rice grains. They then glued
a toothpick on to the larvae to record the high speed punches and turned it into a slow mo video.
The researchers also used the young larvae to see how their punches developed over time. The
researcher found that after 9 days, they began to punch around 1.4 kilometers per hour, about
100x less than the adult mantis shrimp. Researchers concluded that the mantis shrimp need these
speedy limbs to help them move throughout the waters due to the fact that the waters are more
viscous to the smaller creatures.
This article was very fascinating to read because of the words “shrimp” and “punch” in
the title. I was like “what? A shrimp can punch?” It's very amazing that such a small creature can
move its limbs faster than the average speed limit on a freeway. I was also imagining while
reading this, a human being able to move their arms that fast and punch someone in the shoulder.
I am also wondering what it would feel like to be punched by this small creature. I mean it's
about the size of a grain of rice! That's amazing! I never even knew that shrimp could punch at
all in the first place so it's always nice for me to learn something new. Anything about sea
creatures I love to learn about because there are so many species of creatures in the ocean that we
haven’t even uncovered and it's amazing for scientists to find out more and more things about
creatures from the ocean. Lastly, I thought it was cool that these creatures were transparent
which made it easier for scientists to see the limb moving in action. Overall this was a fun article
to read and I hope to read more and learn more.
Link: Mantis shrimp start practicing their punches at just 9 days old