"Mantis shrimp or stomatopods are marine crustaceans, the members of the order Stomatopoda. Mantis shrimp sport powerful claws that they use to attack and kill prey by spearing, stunning or dismemberment. Although it happens rarely, some larger species of mantis shrimp are capable of breaking through aquarium glass with a single strike from this weapon."
"One species possess a developed club and rudimentary spear; the club is used to bludgeon and smash their meals apart. These two weapons are employed with blinding quickness, with an acceleration of a .22 calibre bullet."
The mantis shrimps' eyes can perceive both polarized light and hyperspectral colour vision. They are considered to be the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.
Some species have at least 16 different photoreceptor types, which are divided into four classes (their spectral sensitivity is further tuned by colour filters in the retinas), 12 of them for colour analysis in the different wavelengths (including four which are sensitive to ultraviolet light) and four of them for analysing polarised light. By comparison, humans have only five visual pigments, four dedicated to see colour but the lens block ultraviolet light.
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