Awesome video of a badass sea creature... check it out!

The Pistol Shrimp!

Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names of these species include pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp.

The snapping shrimp competes with much larger animals, like the sperm whale and beluga whale, for the title of 'loudest animal in the sea'. The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure wave is strong enough to kill small fish. It corresponds to a zero to peak pressure level of 218 decibels relative to one micropascal (dB re 1 μPa), equivalent to a zero to peak source level of 190 dB re 1 μPa at the standard reference distance of 1 m. Au and Banks measured peak to peak source levels between 185 and 190 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m, depending on the size of the claw. Similar values are reported by Ferguson and Cleary. The duration of the click is less than 1 millisecond.

The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing bubble, also known as a cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches the surface temperature of the Sun. The light is of lower intensity than the light produced by typical sonoluminescence and is not visible to the naked eye. It is most likely a by-product of the shock wave with no biological significance. However, it is the first known instance of an animal producing light by this effect.

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=c77_1181450463

That is the coolest natural method of attack I have ever seen. 8)

:coolclick: looks like our army just got a new idea for some shady shit to experiment on in area 51. Theres also a beetle that shoots boiling hot water as a self defense mechanism. There's some crazy stuff out there.

That is rather fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Oogie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

:coolclick: looks like our army just got a new idea for some shady shit to experiment on in area 51. Theres also a beetle that shoots boiling hot water as a self defense mechanism. There's some crazy stuff out there.

---

:coolclick: back man.
I think I'm familiar with the beetle you are referring to, the bombardier beetle... you're right, there is some crazy stuff out there. Another type of beetle (rhinoceros beetles) are the strongest animals on earth, proportionally. They can lift 850 times their own weight! It would be the same as an average sized human being able to lift a 65 ton object. 8)

Did you ever hear of cone snails? They are a type of marine snail found in coral reefs that can fire a deadly harpoon (!) with enough toxins to kill a human... there are about 30 recroded human deaths due to this so far. I remember seeing them in a documentary a while ago and I was amazed when I saw it firing... crazy! The problem is, they look really beautiful from the outside and people pick them up thinking they are just sea shells only to be fired upon by the snail.

"The harpoon can penetrate gloves or even wetsuits. Symptoms of a cone snail sting include intense pain, swelling, numbness and tingling. Symptoms can start immediately or can be delayed in onset for days. Severe cases involved muscle paralysis, changes in vision and respiratory failure that can lead to death. There is no antivenom, and treatment involves providing life support until the venom is metabolised by the victim."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BoxingGorilla

That is rather fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Oogie

---

Agreed man and you're welcome! :coolclick:

I just find all these things that produce venom really strange. How does a creature evolve the ability to make such a thing and then know that it will successful against things it hasn't even run into yet? That sucks about no antivenom but taking some stuff to boost up your metabolism should work enough. The blue ring octopus is deadlier than that. There's a reason we have lungs and not gills, we're not supposed to mess with those things in the water.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

I just find all these things that produce venom really strange. How does a creature evolve the ability to make such a thing and then know that it will successful against things it hasn't even run into yet? That sucks about no antivenom but taking some stuff to boost up your metabolism should work enough. The blue ring octopus is deadlier than that. There's a reason we have lungs and not gills, we're not supposed to mess with those things in the water.

---

Hehe, yeah man... if scientists can't explain it, there is no way I will. ;D
Apparently the venom that the cone snails produce contains certain compounds which, when isolated have huge pain killing potential in humans. Research has shown that it can be at 10,000 times more effective than morphine, and without the side effects and addictive properties of morphine too. 8)
There are some seriously venomous creatures out there... I think the box jellyfish has the most deadly venom of all, right?
Terrifying and fascinating at he same time. :P

http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...llyfishpic.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oggie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

I just find all these things that produce venom really strange. How does a creature evolve the ability to make such a thing and then know that it will successful against things it hasn't even run into yet? That sucks about no antivenom but taking some stuff to boost up your metabolism should work enough. The blue ring octopus is deadlier than that. There's a reason we have lungs and not gills, we're not supposed to mess with those things in the water.

---

Hehe, yeah man... if scientists can't explain it, there is no way I will. ;D
Apparently the venom that the cone snails produce contains certain compounds which, when isolated have huge pain killing potential in humans. Research has shown that it can be at 10,000 times more effective than morphine, and without the side effects and addictive properties of morphine too. 8)
There are some seriously venomous creatures out there... I think the box jellyfish has the most deadly venom of all, right?Terrifying and fascinating at he same time. :P

http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...llyfishpic.jpg

---

Produced by an animal... maybe. The deadliest venom in the world is a protein produced by the bacteria that are a part of botchulism. One part per trillion can kill a human being. A syringe filled with it could probably drop just about any living creature in the world.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oggie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

I just find all these things that produce venom really strange. How does a creature evolve the ability to make such a thing and then know that it will successful against things it hasn't even run into yet? That sucks about no antivenom but taking some stuff to boost up your metabolism should work enough. The blue ring octopus is deadlier than that. There's a reason we have lungs and not gills, we're not supposed to mess with those things in the water.

---

Hehe, yeah man... if scientists can't explain it, there is no way I will. ;D
Apparently the venom that the cone snails produce contains certain compounds which, when isolated have huge pain killing potential in humans. Research has shown that it can be at 10,000 times more effective than morphine, and without the side effects and addictive properties of morphine too. 8)
There are some seriously venomous creatures out there... I think the box jellyfish has the most deadly venom of all, right?Terrifying and fascinating at he same time. :P

http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...llyfishpic.jpg

---

Produced by an animal... maybe. The deadliest venom in the world is a protein produced by the bacteria that are a part of botchulism. One part per trillion can kill a human being. A syringe filled with it could probably drop just about any living creature in the world.

---

Yeah, sorry... I meant most deadly venom produced in the animal kingdom. :-[
Botulinum is the toxin you're talking about, I know about that... frightening that a substance can have that much power in such small dosages. I think it is also used for Botox in really tiny amounts, haha. :-X

yeah its wierd that we take the deadliest thing in the world and turn it into make-up. ::**

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

yeah its wierd that we take the deadliest thing in the world and turn it into make-up. ::**

---

Tsk, women... when it comes to cosmetics, is there anything they wont try? ;D

i'd rather run into that thing than a "nuke" fish. (nuke fish is what i've dubbed those ugly ass creatures at the very bottom of the sea. See Hatchet Fish)

Dudes! I love watching animal programees etc! Where did you get this form Oggs?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oggie

The Pistol Shrimp!

Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names of these species include pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp.

The snapping shrimp competes with much larger animals, like the sperm whale and beluga whale, for the title of 'loudest animal in the sea'. The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure wave is strong enough to kill small fish. It corresponds to a zero to peak pressure level of 218 decibels relative to one micropascal (dB re 1 μPa), equivalent to a zero to peak source level of 190 dB re 1 μPa at the standard reference distance of 1 m. Au and Banks measured peak to peak source levels between 185 and 190 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m, depending on the size of the claw. Similar values are reported by Ferguson and Cleary. The duration of the click is less than 1 millisecond.

The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing bubble, also known as a cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches the surface temperature of the Sun. The light is of lower intensity than the light produced by typical sonoluminescence and is not visible to the naked eye. It is most likely a by-product of the shock wave with no biological significance. However, it is the first known instance of an animal producing light by this effect.

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=c77_1181450463

That is the coolest natural method of attack I have ever seen. 8)

---

CC #259 bro! that was siiiiiiiiiick!

did they say it reaches the temp of the sun? if so thats insane!

intresting ! CC mate

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by El Gamo

Dudes! I love watching animal programees etc! Where did you get this form Oggs?

---

:coolclick:
I came across it while browsing random videos. Thought it was damn awesome, so I said I would post it for the cool cats here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheBESTP4P

CC #259 bro! that was siiiiiiiiiick!

did they say it reaches the temp of the sun? if so thats insane!

---

:coolclick: back man!
Yep, you heard right... it momentarily reaches the temperature of the sun as the cavitation bubble collapses... insane.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lords Gym

intresting ! CC mate

---

Glad you found it interesting man... :coolclick: back!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oggie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

I just find all these things that produce venom really strange. How does a creature evolve the ability to make such a thing and then know that it will successful against things it hasn't even run into yet? That sucks about no antivenom but taking some stuff to boost up your metabolism should work enough. The blue ring octopus is deadlier than that. There's a reason we have lungs and not gills, we're not supposed to mess with those things in the water.

---

Hehe, yeah man... if scientists can't explain it, there is no way I will. ;D
Apparently the venom that the cone snails produce contains certain compounds which, when isolated have huge pain killing potential in humans. Research has shown that it can be at 10,000 times more effective than morphine, and without the side effects and addictive properties of morphine too. 8)
There are some seriously venomous creatures out there... I think the box jellyfish has the most deadly venom of all, right?
Terrifying and fascinating at he same time. :P

http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/...llyfishpic.jpg

---

yeah oggie, i got stung by a box jelly of the australian east coast (north avoca beach) to be presise.
it got me across the back of my calf and wrapped around my thigh :'(
i tell u man i was the most painfull experience off my life, i was paralised from the waist down for about 30 mins and cralled up the beach crying like a little girl :-\ thats how painfull it was. the doctor said if it had stung me across the chest i would be dead.
incase ur wondering how i know it was a box jelly? cause the little fucker was still stuck to me leg when i got out of the water. but i tell u what, a sting from a box will bring the toughest of men to tears.
i was pretty lucky 8)

CC#261 Oggie WTF? ???
Thats some crazy ass shit! right there...

So there must be a hole where the anchor part of it's claws goes into to cause the air bubbles to come out of....

Thats just crazy tho I've literally seen the video like 10 times and finally commented on it...

Whoa!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Troy McClure

yeah oggie, i got stung by a box jelly of the australian east coast (north avoca beach) to be presise.
it got me across the back of my calf and wrapped around my thigh :'(
i tell u man i was the most painfull experience off my life, i was paralised from the waist down for about 30 mins and cralled up the beach crying like a little girl :-\ thats how painfull it was. the doctor said if it had stung me across the chest i would be dead.
incase ur wondering how i know it was a box jelly? cause the little fucker was still stuck to me leg when i got out of the water. but i tell u what, a sting from a box will bring the toughest of men to tears.
i was pretty lucky 8)

---

Damn man, are you serious!?
Lucky isn't the word... I have heard stories about those things from my Aussie friend and it is supposed to be insanely painful (for the ones lucky enough to live to tell the tale). They say the best protection against them is if you wear womens tights, haha... apparently the stingers cannot penetrate those.
The lifeguards wear them, right? 8) Haha.

:coolclick: for the amazing story!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

CC#261 Oggie WTF? ???
Thats some crazy ass shit! right there...

So there must be a hole where the anchor part of it's claws goes into to cause the air bubbles to come out of....

Thats just crazy tho I've literally seen the video like 10 times and finally commented on it...

Whoa!!

---

:coolclick: back man!
It is fascinating, eh?
When the two claws come together, the extruding part of the bottom claw penetrates into the top claw and forces out a lightning fast jet of water from a small gap that is left in the front of the claws when they fully close. The pressure is so high that it drops below the vapor pressure of water and a cavitation bubble is formed. It is that bubble collapsing that produces the snapping sound and reaches the temperature of the sun... an implosion I guess. 8)
It is like having the abilty to fire a mini bomb at any time, haha.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oggie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Troy McClure

yeah oggie, i got stung by a box jelly of the australian east coast (north avoca beach) to be presise.
it got me across the back of my calf and wrapped around my thigh :'(
i tell u man i was the most painfull experience off my life, i was paralised from the waist down for about 30 mins and cralled up the beach crying like a little girl :-\ thats how painfull it was. the doctor said if it had stung me across the chest i would be dead.
incase ur wondering how i know it was a box jelly? cause the little fucker was still stuck to me leg when i got out of the water. but i tell u what, a sting from a box will bring the toughest of men to tears.
i was pretty lucky 8)

---

Damn man, are you serious!?
Lucky isn't the word... I have heard stories about those things from my Aussie friend and it is supposed to be insanely painful (for the ones lucky enough to live to tell the tale). They say the best protection against them is if you wear womens tights, haha... apparently the stingers cannot penetrate those.
The lifeguards wear them, right? 8) Haha.

:coolclick: for the amazing story!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

CC#261 Oggie WTF? ???
Thats some crazy ass shit! right there...

So there must be a hole where the anchor part of it's claws goes into to cause the air bubbles to come out of....

Thats just crazy tho I've literally seen the video like 10 times and finally commented on it...

Whoa!!

---

:coolclick: back man!
It is fascinating, eh?
When the two claws come together, the extruding part of the bottom claw penetrates into the top claw and forces out a lightning fast jet of water from a small gap that is left in the front of the claws when they fully close. The pressure is so high that it drops below the vapor pressure of water and a cavitation bubble is formed. It is that bubble collapsing that produces the snapping sound and reaches the temperature of the sun... an implosion I guess. 8)
It is like having the abilty to fire a mini bomb at any time, haha.

---

cc#263 :D yeah man no bull shit. if they sting u across ur chest ur heart can handle the emense pain ala heart seziere. but it was so painfull i was screaming in agony. blue ring octopus can kill a grown man also if it stings u in the right spot, nasty little fuckers they are 8)

Awesome stuff. :coolclick: he'd blow a hole through my aquarium. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punisher136

:coolclick: looks like our army just got a new idea for some shady S*** to experiment on in area 51. Theres also a beetle that shoots boiling hot water as a self defense mechanism. There's some crazy stuff out there.

---

almost didn't seem real....weird...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chris N.

Awesome stuff. :coolclick: he'd blow a hole through my aquarium. :D

---

:coolclick: back... glad you enjoyed the vid.
Imagine going scuba diving, looking under a rock and coming face to face with one of those with an open claw, ready to fire... :-X

Ok everyone... here is another sweet video, completely unrelated to the pistol shrimp. You have to see this!
A Japanese master of the BALL... prepare to be amazed! 8)
Gravity means nothing to this guy!

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=8e3_1181690554