Mantis Eyes

I've posted on the mantis shrimp before (can you go wrong with a name like mantis shrimp?), and I'll post on them again. But the Bleimans have alerted me to an article in Wired that reveals whole new depths to this colorful (you'll catch the pun in a moment) creature.

Photo source: Wired
















It turns out that the mantis shrimp has spectacular eyes. For one thing, those compound eyes are composed of thousands of rows of light-detecting units called ommatidia. These ommatidia allow the mantis shrimp to see in 100,000 different colors -- that's 10 times what we humans are able to see. Wow. Crayola and the cosmetics trade would have to hire full time personnel just to create names for all their new crayons and lipsticks.

But there's more. These shrimp are the first animals ever discovered to be able to perceive circular polarized light (CPL).

Barbecue shrimp. Shrimp salad. Shrimp gumbo. CPL-seeing shrimp.

CPL is used in a variety of industries, so no doubt studying this ability in these shrimp will prove to be very valuable.

Peacock Mantis Monster

Kat of KungFoodie brought this delightful crustacean to my attention. You are looking into the alien eyes of a peacock mantis shrimp. This is a classic example of an animal whose only redeeming quality, as far as appearances go, are its colors. Despite the beautiful colors, there's no escaping the fact that if you encountered a large one in a dark alley, you would assume that you had entered a bad science fiction movie.

Thanks for the links, Kat. And thanks you, Francis, for letting me use your fantastic photo.

Photo courtesy: Francis























And, of course, like most every crustacean, these guys sometimes find themselves served up for dinner. Below are some that have been prepped for cooking. Yummy. I like them better colorful.

If you want to see a video of one of these in action, check out this link.

Photo courtesy: Masato

Ocean Rivalries

AskMen.com has just done a top 10 line up of ocean rivalries, complete with footage from National Geographic. Ever wondered what would happen if a Portuguese man-o-war crossed tentacles with a sea turtle? How about a mantis shrimp versus a hermit crab? Well, now you can find out. Don't worry; each of these rivalries is naturally occurring, and the fights weren't staged.

Here's one such encounter: a dogfin shark meeting a pacific octopus. Watch as the blank defeats the blank.