Development of the snapping shrimp "snap"
Snapping shrimp use a spring-actuated mechanism in their claw to produce cavitation bubbles. We are currently exploring the development of the snapping shrimp claw in Alpheus hetorochaelis. Stay tuned for more!
High-speed snaps in a marine amphipod
We found a small snapping amphipod living on the docks at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. These amphipods generate ultrafast snaps that are actually some of the smallest, and fastest, repeatable movements in nature!
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Development and kinematics of larval mantis shrimp strikes
Mantis shrimp are well known for using elastic energy to produce ultrafast strikes. We found these crustaceans first develop their spring-actuated mechanism when they are small pelagic plankton floating in the open ocean.
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Latching and leaping in legless larvae
These small larval flies use a spring-actuated mechanism to jump hundreds of times their body length, without legs.