MANTIS SHRIMP
Cool facts (source = wikipedia, but confirmed by my biology professor):
- Can be over a foot long
- Can be all sorts of fun colors
- Important ecologically - important predators in many habitats
- Burrow passages in sea beds and hide, waiting for prey
- Claws hit like .22 calibre bullets -> instantaneous force of 1500 newtons and then collapsing cavitation bubbles of instantly boiling water (can crack open shells and crabs)
- Compound eyes with 16 different photoreceptor pigments (humans only have 41)
- Most complex eyes in the animal kingdomÂ
- Can see polarized light
- Use fluorescent body patterns as behavioral signals
- Some are monogamous species (same partner up to 20 years sharing a burrow)
http://images.gizmag.com/hero/mantis_shrimp_body_armor-7.jpg