Claw Snaps Shut

a milky white shrimp with asymmetrical claws sits in a pink reef underwater

Biological Strategy

Snapping shrimps

AskNature Team

Image: Christian Gloor / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution alone

Transform Mechanical Energy

Mechanical energy is made up of kinetic energy (the energy of an object in motion) and potential energy (stored energy). Organisms use mechanical energy in a variety of ways, including capturing prey, transporting seeds, and moving around.

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Crustaceans

Subphylum Crustacea (“crust”): Crabs, barnacles, shrimp, pillbugs

Some crustaceans, like pillpugs and woodlice, live on land, but most are found in the ocean. Their heads are distinctive among the arthropods: they have two pairs of antennae and three pairs of feeding appendages that help them hold and crunch food. Crustaceans also have a unique larval stage called the nauplius (named after the son of Poseidon) which has three pairs of legs and one eye. Most crustaceans are in class Malacostraca, which contains a wide range of species that live in mostly marine environments, like krill, lobster, and mantis shrimp.

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A specialized claw of the pistol shrimp creates a localized pressure wave by bubble collapse.

“This process is known as cavitation, and the energy generated by it almost defies belief; the collapsing gas bubbles create explosive plasma balls that, for an instant, reach 5000 C – almost the temperature of the Sun.” (Downer 2002)

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