Eddie the Emu’s strange animal facts

Have you ever heard of a shrimp that can break glass?

The Mantis Shrimp is such a creature.

Mantis shrimps are crustaceans, like crabs, rock lobsters and other shrimps.

They are the only animals to have hyperspectral colour vision and are considered to have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. They can see ultraviolet, visible and infra-red light and different planes of polarized light. The shape of their eyes allows them to see things with three different parts of the eye at once.

But this Shrimp has a punch that is faster than a bullet…and…as already mentioned…it can break glass.

This was once tested in an experiment by placing a small crab in a glass tube. The Mantis Shrimp was then released and punched the glass to attack the crab (they eat small crabs) and smashed the glass where the poor, unsuspecting crab was sitting.

Fishermen call them the ‘Thumb Splitters’ because when they are caught in their net, the Mantis Shrimp starts pinching anything that moves…therefore slashing the fisherman’s hands…usually their thumbs.

by Eddie the Emu

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