News Animals

Mantis shrimp start practicing their punches at just 9 days old

Glass-bodied young mantis shrimp reveal key secrets of their speedy weapons

black and white image of a mantis shrimp larva

At 11 days old, this mantis shrimp (Gonodactylaceus falcatus) larva has already developed an appendage (folded below the eye) capable of ultrafast punches previously seen only in adults.

Jacob Harrison

By Charles Q. Choi

- More than 2 years ago

The fastest punches in the animal kingdom probably belong to mantis shrimp — and they may begin unleashing these attacks a little more than a week after hatching, when they have just started to hunt prey, a new study shows.