peacock mantis shrimp

English

Noun

peacock mantis shrimp (plural peacock mantis shrimps)

1. A mantis shrimp of species Odontodactylus scyllarus, with keen eyesight, that smashes shells and exoskeletons of its prey and is capable of breaking through glass aquarium tanks.

   Synonyms: painted mantis shrimp, rainbow mantis shrimp, clown mantis shrimp, harlequin mantis shrimp

   Hypernym: mantis shrimp

   • 2014 April 26, Meeri Kim, “Peacock mantis shrimp’s swift, deadly punch inspires superstrong composite materials”, in The Washington Post‎^[1]:

     The title of fastest punch in the animal kingdom firmly belongs to the peacock mantis shrimp, whose club-like appendages reach the speed of a .22-caliber slug, shatter clamshells with ease and can slice human fingers to the bone.

Further reading

• peacock mantis shrimp on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Odontodactylus scyllarus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Odontodactylus scyllarus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons