𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴, the ornamented or Teppo snapping shrimp, is one of many types of pistol or snapping shrimp, one that is found around Hong Kong and other subtropical waters. It is less flashy-looking than other species of pistol shrimp, but just like others, it has one undeniably flashy skill: its powerful claw SNAP!
The average ornamented snapping shrimp is only around 5 cm long and weighs 25 g. Despite its small size, it has one claw that is much larger than the other and which can move at astounding speeds of almost 100 km/h. It uses this to send strong sonic booms to communicate, scare away predators and, amazingly, to stun prey.
It used to be thought that pistol shrimp clacked their claws together (the moving hammer segment hitting the stationary anvil segment) to make their signature snap, like living castanets (the famous Spanish percussion instrument) . It wasn’t until the early 2000s that it was first attributed to a phenomenon called cavitation.
Cavitation occurs when water is pushed at high speed and the resulting changes in pressure cause an air bubble to implode. The collapse of this bubble can for a very short amount of time and within an extremely small area reach temperatures of about 4800 degrees centigrade - similar to the sun’s surface! It also manifests as a short burst of visible light. This fast-changing pressure dance is reminiscent of the formation of thunder and lightning, which basically makes snapping shrimp teeny tiny thunder gods like Zeus or Thor.
The loudest recorded snapping shrimp is called 𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘥𝘪 (their pink claw and powerful sound inspired scientists to name them after the band Pink Floyd). It snaps at over 200 decibels, which is louder than a gunshot (140-175 decibels), hence the name pistol shrimp.
In the 2020 movie Project Power, Jamie Foxx’s character gains pistol shrimp superpowers and can fight enemies with his mighty shock waves. A less made-up use of pistol shrimp powers is that in World War II the US Navy took advantage of the soundwaves in snapping shrimp-infested waters to hide their submarines from detection by Japanese hydrophones. As for future use of shrimp tech, scientists are studying all sorts of applications for cavitation bubbles: to purify water, in compression engines, and even to target and kill tumours.
As you visit the HKBM, be sure to have a look at our pistol shrimp!
Text: Elvira Rey Redondo
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