Mini Speed Demons

The Mantis Shrimp is one of the fastest animals on the planet and the reason there are so is because just like the trap jaw ant the have a internal spring that stores energy then releases it. The hit so hard the are known for putting cracks in the aquariums the are kept in.  Because the strike so rapidly, they generate cavitation bubbles between the appendage and the striking surface. The collapse of these cavitation bubbles produces measurable forces on their prey in addition to the instantaneous forces of 1,500 newtons that are caused by the impact of the appendage against the striking surface, which means that the prey is hit twice by a single strike; first by the claw and then by the collapsing cavitation bubbles that immediately follow.