I have been reading a variety of articles on the current and recent research on the colorful Matis shrimp, particularly the Peacock Mantis, Odontodactylus scyllarus. Aside from packing a 50 mph punch, the eyes of this Mantis are the most complex in the animal kingdom. Ben Guardino highlights the research of the University of Maryland Baltimore County biologist, Thomas Cronin (who has studied the vision systems of Mantis shrimp since 1983) in his article for the Washington Post (May 2018)The Amazing eyes of a Mantis shrimp.

Among his significant discoveries are that the Mantis has three “pseudo pupils,” and each of their eyes have independent depth perception with vision beyond humans on both ends of the visible light spectrum, peering into ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.

In recent research, Ilsa Daly of the University of Bristol suggests we are nowhere close to solving the mystery of the Mantis vision system or why this small crustacean would need such a unique visual system. The more you watch them, the weirder they seem. Their eyes are constantly in motion, up, down, side to side (Daly, 2018), and can function independently. For more on this, see the Washington Post article, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/02/this-creature-has-the-oddest-eyes-in-the-animal-kingdom/.

Another article on NewScientist.com by Leah Crane ( Oct 2018) addresses the punch of the Mantis shrimp, equal to the force of a .22 caliber bullet. This is not a result of strength, but the Mantis arms are naturally spring-loaded and work similarly to a bow and arrow, according to Ali Miserez of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. I found this article on the IFLScience site here, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2182882-mantis-shrimps-punch-with-the-force-of-a-bullet-and-now-we-know-how/.

There are quite a few other interesting articles on this site, as well as fascinating facts about the habits and attributes of other marine and terrestrial animals.