For two years they tried and failed to catch a mantis shrimp—until now. Stranded on a reef battered by 30-knot winds, they hooked a giant—but it vanished into its burrow. Every second was a gamble.

The peacock mantis shrimp is the Mike Tyson of the shrimp world, capable of delivering a mean punch. The impact pressure from these little guys rivals that of a small-caliber bullet. Despite their ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. At first glance, the mantis shrimp is an unassuming ...

Despite their name, mantis shrimp are not true shrimp but a type of stomatopod: a relative of crabs and lobsters that has been on Earth for over 400 million years. There are more than 400 different ...

Mantis shrimp withstand repeated high-impact forces without structural damage. Researchers discovered the shrimp's clubs feature a protective pattern that controls how stress waves travel through its ...