Out diving yesterday, I stumbled across a cool example of two species appearing to live together quite happily - a hole in the sand on the sea bed, with a shrimp inside busily excavating, and two small goby fish just by the entrance looking like they were guarding the hole. When I got nearer, all three dived into the hole, so I backed off a bit and watched them get back to work - the shrimp beavering away, the gobies keeping an eye out.
So, because I am officially a fish geek now, I came home to find out if this was a normal thing to see ... and it turns out that yes, the gobies and shrimp do indeed have a symbiotic relationship, with the shrimp bringing digging skills to the party while the gobies make up for the shrimp's poor eyesite. Cue Lord? Sir? Attenborough ...
But wait, it gets even cooler. I noticed that my little shrimp had one claw much bigger than the other, and again it turns out that this symbiotic relationship is particularly common between some types of goby and the snapping shrimp or pistol shrimp - a contender for 'loudest animal in the sea'. This is an animal that produces killer soundwaves - really! And the soundwaves are so powerful that the pressure of the collapsing bubble from the snapping claw produces heat of 4,700 degrees C (the sun's surface is about 5,500 degrees C) and a quick flash of sonoluminesence - invisible to the naked eye, but light nonetheless. A tiny shrimp that can kill small fish with a sound - you can't make this stuff up ...
So, because I am officially a fish geek now, I came home to find out if this was a normal thing to see ... and it turns out that yes, the gobies and shrimp do indeed have a symbiotic relationship, with the shrimp bringing digging skills to the party while the gobies make up for the shrimp's poor eyesite. Cue Lord? Sir? Attenborough ...
But wait, it gets even cooler. I noticed that my little shrimp had one claw much bigger than the other, and again it turns out that this symbiotic relationship is particularly common between some types of goby and the snapping shrimp or pistol shrimp - a contender for 'loudest animal in the sea'. This is an animal that produces killer soundwaves - really! And the soundwaves are so powerful that the pressure of the collapsing bubble from the snapping claw produces heat of 4,700 degrees C (the sun's surface is about 5,500 degrees C) and a quick flash of sonoluminesence - invisible to the naked eye, but light nonetheless. A tiny shrimp that can kill small fish with a sound - you can't make this stuff up ...
Blimey, that is hard.core. He's like a shrimp with super powers!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the holiday offer. I might take you up on that. I will definitely be travelling more when I move.