spit-fired flames
by Douglas J. Lanzo
the coral-creviced crackling
of shrimp
If you’ve ever snorkeled over a reef and heard strange crackling sounds, chances are that you were tuning in to one of the most remarkable creatures of the reef: snapping shrimp.
As soon as a reef snapping shrimp spots its prey, such as a small goby, hermit crab or bristle worm, it springs into action, pulling back its upper claw into an open position akin to cocking the hammer of a pistol. Upon releasing a specialized, latching joint, its claw finger slams shut in less than a millisecond, ejecting water from its socket at speeds of up to 100 km/hour. The intense speed of this water jet shears the water apart, creating a cavitation bubble whose implosion produces a sonic shockwave of over 200 decibels in acoustic pressure, instantly killing the stunned prey.
As if these feats of physics were not enough, the shrimp’s snap also produces an intense burst of light called sonoluminescence whose temperature for a few nanoseconds approaches the temperature on the surface of the sun.
Further reading:
To learn more about this spectacular hunting technique, check out BBC Earth (Weird Nature): Pistol Shrimp Superheats Water!, BBC Earth (Richard Hammond’s Invisible Worlds): Pistol Shrimp’s Cavitation Bubble and the incredible footage capturing over 10,000 frames per second of The Patek Lab (Duke University).
Author bio:
Doug is an award-winning writer whose novel The Year of the Bear and novella I Have Lived were named 2023 and 2024 books of the year, respectively. 589 of Doug’s poems have found homes in 79 literary journals, 9 anthologies and 2 books all around the world. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.