Scientists have confirmed that the mantis shrimp has the fastest punch in the world using its special dactyl club.
The mantis shrimp may be tiny, but it is mighty. This colorful shrimp living in the Pacific and Indian Oceans can punch so hard and fast that it can crack a shell with the force of a .22 caliber bullet. According to the paper published in the journal Science, the mantis could do all that while keeping its club intact from the subsequent shockwaves of its punch. The dactyl clubs are located on either side of the crustacean and unload their power with spring-like tendons that fire the punch out with explosive force.
The shrimp with the fastest punch on the planet
“The mantis shrimp is known for its incredibly powerful strike, which can break mollusk shells and even crack aquarium glass,” said Horacio Espinosa, one of the paper’s authors and a professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, in a statement. “However, to repeatedly execute these high-impact strikes, the mantis shrimp’s dactyl club must have a robust protection mechanism to prevent self-damage.”
The study found that the shrimp’s metaphorical hammer hands selectively filter certain shockwaves, allowing it to survive the incredible force of the impact and come away unscathed.
“We found it uses phononic mechanisms, structures that selectively filter stress waves,” said Espinosa. “This enables the shrimp to preserve its striking ability over multiple impacts and prevent soft tissue damage.”
Espinosa explained that the punch is more than just the impact, as the process that comes afterward is the cherry on top of the sundae that is the destructive force of this puny creature.
“When the mantis shrimp strikes, the impact generates pressure waves onto its target,” said Espinosa. “It also creates bubbles, which rapidly collapse to produce shockwaves in the megahertz range. The collapse of these bubbles releases intense bursts of energy, which travel through the shrimp’s club. This secondary shockwave effect, along with the initial impact force, makes the mantis shrimp’s strike even more devastating.”
While the researchers were stunned at the discovery that the ensuing shockwaves don’t impact the creature’s shell or soft tissue, they were even more shocked to learn that it also does not affect their nervous system. An analysis of the shrimp’s armor showed that it blocks and alters the frequency of the shockwaves, rendering them harmless when they reflect toward the striker.
“The periodic region plays a crucial role in selectively filtering out high-frequency shear waves, which are particularly damaging to biological tissues,” said Espinosa, adding, “This effectively shields the shrimp from damaging stress waves caused by the direct impact and bubble collapse.”