Goben 1

Caroline Goben
Mr. DeJonge
English IV
13 January 2017
Colorful Crustaceans
The rainbow shrimp, also called the peacock mantis shrimp, is perhaps one of the most
colorful animals in the ocean. Rainbow shrimp are Found in the warm waters of the Indian and
Pacific Oceans (Peacock Mantis Shrimp). Although these crustaceans are captivating to look
at, there is a lot more to them than looks. These shrimp are known to have one of the fastest
punches of any animal and are also the proud owners of eyes that have the capability to see four
times as many colors as human eyes. Not necessarily a popular animal, rainbow shrimp interest
me with their many unique qualities.
One of the most interesting things about the mantis shrimp is its eyes. Within each
eye, mantis shrimp have twelve types of photoreceptors. Thats four times as many as we
humans have (Braun). As a human, its impossible to imagine what you could see with 8-13
more photoreceptors. Interestingly enough, rainbow shrimp most likely do not use their
photoreceptors the same way as humans do. When put in a color test to determine the difference
between two shades of the same color, the shrimp did no better than just guessing which one was
which. Its been hypothesized that ...as mantis shrimp scan the sea, their unique eyes take in
signals from all twelve photoreceptors at once and, lightning-quick, recognize the telling colors
of a competitor or potential meal (Braun). This means that these complex shrimp still have
amazing vision, just in a different way. However, rainbow shrimp have another distinct feature
that sets them apart from others.

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Although they are visually appealing, mantis shrimp are one of the more deadly animals
in the oceans. When unfurled, the tips of [mantis shrimp] arms can move at up to 51 miles per
hour- underwater, no less- and reach accelerations over 10,000 times that of gravity (Yong).
With this kind of power, rainbow shrimp could be seen less as an animal of beauty and more as
one of danger. Interestingly enough, they dont go easy on other members of their dangerous
species. Often times when two members of a deadly species face off, they back out in a way to
avoid serious harm for both parties. When pitted against each other, [mantis shrimp] test
strength and stamina- theyre just doing it through the unconventional means of punching the
[crap] out of each other (Yong). This is an interesting characteristic, unique to the rainbow
shrimp.
When it comes vision and self-defense, mantis shrimp are unsurpassed by any other
animal in the ocean or anywhere else. Although this shrimp is popular for its unique and nearlyperfect vision, they probably use it in a way not previously thought of. As for their muscle
power, rainbow shrimp can pretty much do whatever they want. Perhaps its this fact, that
rainbow shrimp are so unlike any other animal, that intrigues myself and many others.

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Works Cited
Braun, Ashley. "Mantis Shrimp Vision Is Not As Mindblowing As You've Been Told."Popular
Science. Bonnier Corporation, 19 June 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Mantis Shrimp. Digital image. Fact Zoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Mantis Shrimp. Digital image. Planet Animal Zone - Blogspot. N.p., May 2012. Web. 11 Jan.
2017.
Oatmeal, The. Why the Mantis Shrimp Is My New Favorite Animal. Digital image. The Oatmeal.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
"Peacock Mantis Shrimp." National Aquarium. National Aquarium, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
Yong, Ed. "Mantis Shrimps Avoid Deadly Fights by Pummeling Each Other." The Atlantic.
Atlantic Media Company, 23 Sept. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.