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Mantis shrimps are incredible. They are so small and yet so mighty.
While looking for one simple mantis shrimp fact to share with fellow-divers, it was impossible to narrow this amazing creature down into just one fact. It didn't seem to do it justice.

Mantis shrimps live in warm, shallow waters and typically grow to around 15-30cm (6-12 inches) in length. Not so big, right?
However, the mantis shrimp is one bad-ass creature of the sea!

Check this out:

1. The mantis shrimp's powerful punch can make speeds of 80km/h

2. Said punch can strike prey with 1,500 Newtons of force! To put this into perspective, if a human being could accelerate our arms at 1/10th that speed, we would be capable of throwing a baseball into outer space! (Source: The Oatmeal)

3. During the punch action, the water surrounding the limbs throwing the punch actually boils, which is called 'supercaptivation'.

4. When the captivation bubbles collapse they create a shockwave that means even if the mantis shrimp misses its target, chances are they will still kill it. Evil!

5. At the same time this whole process produces incredible heat (hotter than the surface of the sun) and inexplicable little sparks of light.

6. To house the mantis shrimp in an aquarium, you might think to simply remove the limbs of the mantis shrimp to make a safer environment, but NO. If you remove one of their appendages, it grows back!! (This explains why mantis shrimps are rarely housed in aquariums). I guess you have to go scuba diving to find one.

There is more...

7. Their eyes are also the most powerful of any creature in the World, containing 16 colour-receptive cones. The human eye sees stems from just 3 colours. Butterflies see from 5 colours. Mantis shrimps with their 16 cones can view an incredible 13 colours that the human brain is not even capable of processing.

Mantis shrimps: They are beautiful creatures. They are evil creatures. (Let's face it, part of the reason they are rarely housed in aquariums is because they slaughter every other marine creature in the tank with them!) They are powerful creatures. They are insanely interesting creatures with nothing else like them on Earth.

All photos contained in this blog post and within the infographic were taken in Maldives or Thailand by the staff at SUB AQUA DiveCenter.