Deadly strike mechanism of a mantis shrimp: Biomechanics

This shrimp packs a punch powerful enough to smash its prey's shell underwater. Stomatopods (mantis shrimp) are well known for the feeding appendages they use to smash shells and impale fish. Here we show that the peacock mantis shrimp ( Odontodactylus scyllarus ) generates an extremely fast st...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2004-04, Vol.428 (6985), p.819-820
Main Authors: Patek, S. N., Korff, W. L., Caldwell, R. L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
brief-communication
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This shrimp packs a punch powerful enough to smash its prey's shell underwater. Stomatopods (mantis shrimp) are well known for the feeding appendages they use to smash shells and impale fish. Here we show that the peacock mantis shrimp ( Odontodactylus scyllarus ) generates an extremely fast strike that requires major energy storage and release, which we explain in terms of a saddle-shaped exoskeletal spring mechanism. High-speed images reveal the formation and collapse of vapour bubbles next to the prey due to swift movement of the appendage towards it, indicating that O. scyllarus may use destructive cavitation forces to damage its prey.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/428819a