ALI!

‘Peacock Mantis Shrimp’ photo by Dan Schofield is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

The Peacock Mantis Shrimp is beautiful!  (See photo above).  But beware, their nick name is ‘thumb splitter’ because they have two club like appendages on the front of their body called ‘dactyl clubs’ they use to punch their prey.  If mishandled, they will punch you and can split your finger!  Hence the nick name!  

These clubs are spring loaded and have the same velocity as a .22 caliber rifle!  That’s (1,200 feet/second or 836 MPH.)

Their punch is so fast that it causes ‘cavitation bubbles’ in the water,  a super-heated bubble and a small flash of light, which for a split second also generates temperatures of 4,400c (7952 degrees Fahrenheit!) which is nearly as hot as the sun in the surrounding water.  I am reminded of the scripture from Job: ‘He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed’!  Job 9:10..

When the bubbles collapse, they cause an intense shockwave which is like a double punch and can stun, dismember, or kill prey instantly – even if the mantis shrimp misses the target.  (factanimals.com.). UNBELIEVABLE!!!!   
 
Did you ever hear of Muhammad Ali?  The boxer from the 60’s with the fastest hands in the world!  In 1969 Sports Illustrated measured his jab with an omega scope.  It covered the distance of 16.5 inches in 4/100 of a second.  That’s only 23.57 MPH!  The Peacock Mantis certainly has him beat!

It also has us beat.  Its eyes have ‘trinocular vision’.  They can gauge depth and distance from three different points of view!  Their eyes can work independently of each other and have 12-16 photoreceptor pigments.  We humans have only four……boo.  That means that there are a lot more colors out there than we are aware of.  It also has SIX pupils or hexnocular vision.  We have only two pupils or binocular vision.  Wow.  I wonder how it sees the world?  Better than we do.   

They are colorful, so I’ll bet you are itching to have one or more in your aquarium.

BEWARE, they can punch a hole in the glass.  You actually have to buy a special aquarium with thick glass if you want to have them around.  

In the future, you can have as many as you want!  They are going to lose their punch, considering the fact that in the new Heaven and the New Earth, God said, ‘They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, Isaiah 11:9.

If you want to see the Peacock Mantis in action, watch this link, ‘Mantis Shrimp Packs a Punch /Predator in Paradise (Nat Geo Wild).
https://youtu.be/E0Li1k5hGBE?si=J6MA7pMN0FoAkR1A

STAY IN AWE OF THIS GOD OF ‘WONDERS’!