Beware the oceans - I

Ok. So in my quest to establish a saltwater tank I decided I wanted a reef. I did my research and made my decisions. But in the process I discovered a LOT of things that I had never known about ocean inhabitants. Ok well maybe not a LOT but some good stuff. And I'm sure there will be more.

This first one is the Mantis Shrimp. There has been special after special about the fastest strike from a predator or a variety of things. Well watch this linkand discover that the Mantis shrimp can officially claim title to the fastest feeding strike of any animal - over 45 mph in water. That is FAST! As for the impact, the speaker in the video has measured a Mantis Shrimp smash at well over 200 pounds of force. For a little guy he is fast and packs a wallop.

So what is a Mantis Shrimp. Well first its not really a shrimp. Its a sematopod. There are two forms of them - spearers and smashers. They were called Mantis because they look like a praying Mantis. They are highly intelligent and have amazing eyesight and are typically considered a pest in a reef tank since they are so good at what they do. They will decimate a crab and snail population and potentially any other inhabitants they think they can kill. There are videos on you tube showing them attacking nearly everything including fish.

I hope this is interesting to you because it more surely was to me. Do I want one, yea but not soon. Want to concentrate on my reef first but it would be interesting to have one of the fastest food striking animals on earth living in the house.