Wednesday, July 29, 2009

can you name two things that makes pistol shrimp different?

what are two facts about pistol shrimp that make them different from other shrimp?

Hint: both of these facts make them completely different from all other sea creatures
Answers:
The tiger pistol shrimp (Alpheus bellulus) is a species of shrimp, also called symbiosis shrimp, or snapping shrimp. The body is tan with rust-colored broken stripes running across the back. They have two claws: a pincher and snapper. The snapper can deliver a strong blast of water jet that can stun their prey. It is native to tropical waters, for example, Baja California.

The name "symbiosis shrimp" comes from the mutually beneficial relationship the shrimp has with gobies (e.g. Amblyeleotris and Stonogobiops). The goby, with better eyesight, warns the shrimp of predators, and the shrimp shares its food with the goby.

Pistol shrimps are monogymists and possibly the only eusocial marine animal. Living in sponges, they show high degrees of inbreeding. As eusocial animals, these shrimps have a division of labor. For example, queen castes are protected by "soldier" castes. Soldier castes, which are larger in size are more likely to attack intruders (pistol shrimps of another colony) than smaller, non-soldier castes.

The pistol shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates noise in excess of 200 decibels, capable of killing small fish and breaking glass up to 1.8 metres away. The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing bubble, also known as cavitation bubble [1]. This has been dubbed "shrimpoluminescence". The light is of lower intensity than the light produced by typical sonoluminescence and is not visible to the naked eye. It is most likely a by-product of the shock wave with no biological significance. However, it is the first known instance of an animal producing light by this effect.

It is thought that when the bubble implodes a very small region momentarily reaches temperatures of several thousand kelvins, comparable to the temperature of the outer layer of the Sun.
they carry guns.
Its a predator

It shoots heated pockets of water like bullets

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