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Wow the section on pistol shrimp is incredible - I had no idea that animals could weaponize bubbles!

• pvaldes 5y ago
  And they are everywhere below 40m deep (or so) in soft bottoms. Is an omnipresent danger for small fishes. Mantis shrimp are also evil things. Pistol shrimps aren't more known because they are (fortunately) small, but they are very interesting creatures.
• wil421 5y ago
  > Pistol shrimp (also called snapping shrimp) produce a type of cavitation luminescence from a collapsing bubble caused by quickly snapping its claw… was whimsically dubbed "shrimpoluminescence" upon its discovery in 2001. I would love to see shrimpoluminescence first hand but it says you can’t see it with the naked eye.
  • crazydoggers 5y ago
    You can see the bubbles… but I think the light is too dim to make out. Check out the YouTube link in the other reply.
• crazydoggers 5y ago
  Yep! I’ve got one in my 100 gallon reef aquarium. He hides all the time, but his bubble shots are loud and a constant companion. Here’s some slow motion video of the bubbles they form: https://youtu.be/QXK2G2AzMTU https://youtu.be/QXK2G2AzMTU
• adolph 5y ago
  It has subsequently been discovered that another group of crustaceans, the mantis shrimp, contains species whose club-like forelimbs can strike so quickly and with such force as to induce sonoluminescent cavitation bubbles upon impact. More on the Mantis Shrimp (including super-color sight): https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp