Sunday, June 05, 2005

MANTIS SHRIMP AT KAPALAI ISLAND



Predatory crustaceans living in shallow waters.

Very beautiful colors. Size of up to 30 cm.

This particular specimen is estimated to be about 10 to 15 cm.

Reputedly, one of the most aggressive and confrontational of all marine creatures.

Preys on not only fishes but also on hard-shelled animals such as crabs, clams, and snails.

Furthermore, the mantis shrimps are known to have the world's most sophisticated vision.

Their eyes (those two bulbous, short-stalked eyes between the antennae) contain 16 different types of 'photoreceptors', 12 of which are for colour analysis.

Apparently, they are able to distinguish up to 100,000 colors, compared to the 10,000 by human beings.

Hmmmm... didn't know that we could see up to 10,000 colors, but 100,000 colors?

No comments:

Post a Comment