Although not much larger than a wooden match stick, drum shrimp (pictured) is already known for its loud, fast-closing claws—the sound that can stun prey and opponents. Now, researchers have discovered that the vision of these marine crustaceans can match this speed. Recently, in a new study, scientists inserted a thin wire into the eyes of a live shrimp and recorded the eye’s electrical pulse response to the flashing light. The study, published in BioExpress, showed that this crustacean refreshed their vision 160 times per second.
This is one of the animals with the highest refresh rate among all animals on earth. Pigeons are very close to it, and the field of vision can be sampled 143 times per second, while humans can only reach 60 times per second.
Researchers report that only certain insects that fly during the day can defeat drum shrimp. When humans and all other vertebrates see a blur, drum shrimp can detect discrete images moving in their field of view.
Until a few years ago, most researchers believed that drum shrimp had poor eyesight because they had a hard shell (called a carapace) covering their eyes. Although this “hood” looks transparent, it is not clear how transparent it is.
However, this does not seem to prevent the drum shrimp from finding prey or even the rapid movement of predators. This may be important because drum shrimp generally live in turbid water, so when another creature approaches, they don’t care much.
