[ INTRO ] Squeaks and I just got back from a day at
the aquarium. That’s a place you can go to learn about
animals, like a zoo, except it’s just for animals that live in or around water. We saw so many cool and fascinating creatures,
like penguins, otters, and all sorts of fish! But there’s one creature that we didn’t
see today, even though they also live in water. It’s not because they’re too big for an
aquarium, because this creature is actually pretty small! At most, they’re only about 30 centimeters,
or a foot, long. Definitely not huge! So what is this creature that I’m thinking
of? And why is it almost never in aquariums, even
though it lives in water and it’s not that big? This special animal is called the mantis shrimp,
and even though they’re pretty small, they’re super powerful. They punch so hard that it could actually
break the glass walls in an aquarium. So if an aquarium does want to keep one, they
have to be behind really strong glass. There are two different types of mantis shrimp,
which hunt their food in two different, but equally awesome ways. The first kind are known as spearers because
the ends of their arms look kind of like spears, which they stick into whatever they’re attacking. The other kind are called smashers, and they’re
the ones that punch. Instead of spears, smasher mantis shrimp have
clubs at the ends of their arms, which they use to punch things. And they can smash really fast and really
hard. How fast? About 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, an hour. That’s about as fast as a car zooming down
the highway! No other animal in the world can punch that
fast. And a fast punch means a hard punch, too — the mantis shrimp can smash right through
the shells of crabs they want to eat. Plus, remember, they’re moving through water,
not air. Imagine punching through water. It’s a lot harder than just punching the
air! Mantis shrimp punch so fast and so hard that
they actually make the water bubble up — and these bubbles are super hot, so hot they
can really hurt, making the mantis shrimp’s punch an even
better weapon. There’s a fancy name for this process of
turning water into hot bubbles: cavitation. You might be wondering why mantis shrimp are
so, well, intense. Scientists think it might be because the places
they like to live – little nooks and crannies in rocks – are
popular with other sea creatures, too, like crabs and small fish. So mantis shrimp really like claiming their
space and saying, “Hey, this is MY space!” Don’t worry, Squeaks! I’m not like a mantis shrimp at all! I want to share this space with you, and I’m really happy you’re here! So, back to the mantis shrimp. They reason they can punch so fast and so
hard is that their arms work like springs. Springs are kind of like trampolines — if
you push down on them, they push right back really fast. That’s why you can jump so high on a trampoline! We don’t see too many springs in nature,
so that makes the mantis shrimp pretty special. And, mantis shrimp can do their super-fast
punching without hurting themselves. That’s because right under their hard shell
is a stretchier layer that bends instead of breaking. Besides for their punching skills, there’s
something else about mantis shrimp that’s super cool: their eyesight. They can see alllllll sorts of colors and
types of light that other animals can’t. Scientists think the bodies of mantis shrimp
might have colors and patterns that only other mantis shrimp
can see. And, because their eyes are on stalks sticking
out of their heads, they can spin them around in almost any direction, and they can even point their eyes in two
different directions at once! It’s hard to even imagine what the world
looks like to a mantis shrimp, but I bet it’s awesome … just like the mantis shrimp themselves. Thanks for joining us! If you want to keep exploring our world with
Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and don’t forget
to check us out on the YouTube Kids app. We’ll see you next time, here at the Fort! [ OUTRO ]
