The Insane Biology of: The Mantis Shrimp

Watch Becoming Human, exclusive on Nebula:

Credits:
Narrator/Writer: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault
Illustrator: Jacek Ambrożewski

Thanks to the Patek Lab for their incredible footage and help throughout this entire video

Images Courtesy of Getty Images

REFERENCES

[reme]

The fact that their movement is comparable to a bullet is crazy enough but that they do it UNDERWATER is just insane considering that water is much denser than air. If you've ever tired to throw a punch underwater you know how hard water gets when moving fast.

[goldsteins]

Real Science: "Hmm, I wonder why the mantis shrimp videos suddenly gets a resurgence in view"
Dandadan: "Salary. UPPERCUT"

[eyenuh]

Punches so hard it creates a vacuum, burns, and creates a ball of light. That is an anime attack.

[neloangelo]

Dandadan brought me here, I was not disappointed.

[equinox]

Business man! Business man! Japanese Business man!

[GeoffryGifari]

keep in mind that if the acceleration of their strikes is faster than a 0.22 caliber bullet, they do it *underwater*, where the medium is denser

[nucleargrizzly]

I have a pair of Mantis Shrimp that stowed away on some live rock 3 years ago. They both have a lot of personality. Fun just watching them being Mantis Shrimp and doing Mantis Shrimp stuff.

[ayushdatta]

The fact that this video popped up on my feed as soon as I was done with DandaDan Episode 9 is scary. I am cooked for real now!

[alloraborialis]

When I tell you I screamed when I saw this- I’ve been waiting for your commentary on this animal! It’s my all time favorite!

[ilVice]

Finally we get to see the person behind the narrating voice! Amazing work as usual, to you Stephanie, and to the whole team.
The videos of Real Science are gems.

[benjaelee]

she fr just nonchalantly gona do a face reveal

[GOD-TIR]

Mr mantis shrimp got famous after that ep

[akathoth]

The format change adds a lot of personality to your video. As someone who is working in IT, I really do enjoy seeing things this well explained to learn something new I would normally not have the time to enducate myself in.

[arinomaly]

you ever stand up too quickly and get access to mantis shrimp colors?

[FlufflesTheCatDragon]

Half the comments: "Wow, this was very interesting and informative."

The other half: "Dandadan Dandadan Dandadan"

[John-ihbx]

This was THE best documentary/video of the Mantis Shrimp that I have seen. It had an incredible amount of scientific/anatomical information about the fascinating creatures, with skilled professionals and narration. Never was the video boring or wasting my time for being too dramatic/slow, but filled with great information told in a succinct, scientific, and interesting way. Kudos to you. 10+ stars.

[Onihikage]

9:40 I think a clarification might be in order regarding this section about whether the shrimp evolved to cavitate or the cavitation is a happy side effect. A layman may interpret Dr. Patek's response to mean that the shrimp or some mystical mind of evolution knew a future result and evolved towards it. It would be more accurate to say that the cavitation definitely occurred incidentally in an ancestor of the modern shrimp, but it gives such an advantage in almost any scenario that shrimp which could produce cavitation more reliably (and had clubs tough enough to withstand it) had a significant reproductive advantage over those that couldn't because it made them better at killing prey and killing or deterring predators. This selective pressure would have guided the shrimp's evolution down a path to throwing punches that more consistently cause cavitation.

[Mr.ANDERSONYOURASCAL]

You know the shrimp is on a whole other level when it can literally create a localized explosion with its punches

[cbhorxo]

I actually have to do a 2-minute speech in class tomorrow, but couldn't find any interesting and unique topics. Thank you, RealScience.

[Jaromeo]

Excellent video! Felt bad about the low views so felt I had to give something. Sorry, it couldn't be more.