Pistol Shrimp Knocks out Prey with Shockwave
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 bubble that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure is strong enough to kill small fish. The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from the collapsing cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches temperatures of over 5,000 K (5,273.15 degree C). A quick comparison: the surface temperature of the sun is estimated to be around 5,778 K.


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