The Rainbow of Love

Myriad of colors
Filtering rays of sun to spectrum wide
droplet by droplet
You color me and I color you
Sensing the vibrations a few to sensory hue
Lone rangers are we
Burrows to burrows
Mighty warriors, we, defenders of territories
With war paint of blushing valentine's eve
Don't know what is monogamous or eternal love
But together for life are we
Hungry and exhausted she curates her babies to be
Smashing the foes I am left right center and above
You are me and I am you
Love is in water
Colors and vibrations abound
Colorful smashers, one strike to limp
For we are Mantis Shrimp

                                                                                                           - Anant Deshwal


  (Image from radiolab.org)

Peacock Mantis Shrimp generally live from depth of 3-10m near corals. They are crustaceans and resemble lobsters. They are very colorful and hence the name Peacock mantis shrimp. They have amazing eyes and are known to be able to see ultraviolet and polarized light too. Care of the young one is mostly maternal and the female shrimp does not eat till the eggs hatch. From laying of eggs till they hatch the female mantis shrimp spends most of her time caring, cleaning and aerating the eggs.

Mantis Shrimp are aggressive hunters and have a very powerful blow. Peacock mantis shrimp are known as smashers as they strike with a force of 400-1501 Newton with a speed of 20 m/s. This causes a cavitation bubble to form that delivers additional 504 N of force. In other words it can smash the  bones in thumb to tiny pieces with a single strike. It can break aquarium walls with a single strike. They are also very territorial. They communicate mostly via vibrations.

  (Image from aqua.org)



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