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Synalpheus sp
Small Snapping Shrimp - Synalpheus sp, around 2 cm in size but was not easy to get proper pictures of it as they lives in their host Crinoid. There were a pair of them, the other one probably a male, smaller in size, but was not possible to get a picture of both of them in the same frame. I was very surprised with the result of the picture as during the dive, it was not possible to see the details of the tiny red dots all over the Shrimp. I could only see it was white in colour and the much redder part on the head, particularly the antennae.
This particular Snapping Shrimp lives/hides in a Crinoid.
Like all Snapping Shrimps, sometimes referred to as Pistol Shrimps from the genus Synalpheus, they have one claw much larger than the other, which they use to 'snap' to stunt their prey! By snapping its enlarged claw shut at rapid speed, the shrimp creates a high-pressure bubble that collapses to produce one of the loudest sounds in the ocean. The sonic blast can reach 210 decibels - far louder than the sound of a gunshot - and is powerful enough to stun or even kill small fish. For a split-second, the imploding bubble also generates temperatures of 4400 degrees Celsius, which is nearly as hot as the surface of the sun. Some species of pistol shrimp use their sonic weapon to drill burrows into solid basalt rock. Check out this video of how the Pistol Shrimp uses its weapon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkY_mSwb...
7 Comments
@Machi, I didn't take pictures of the Male (smaller one) as it keeps moving away and hides among the Crinoids, they basically looks the same, just different in size.
Thanks, @Leuba, unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the whole Crinoid :(, will try to remember to take pics of them next time :D
Thanks too, @larkinpb and @Machi for your appreciation and kind words :)
Very nice photos and info! Did you get any photos of the male? And I agree with Leuba, the crinoid looks amazing!
Wow! that's so cool!
The crinoid looks interesting too.
Thanks, @Gilma for your appreciation :)
Thank you for the information, very special creature. Small but powerful....