The Shrimp That Fires a Sound Gun

Transcription

This tiny shrimp can sound like a gunshot underwater, and that blast may startle or deter larger predators. That is a wildly unfair amount of drama for a shrimp. The important part is the defense: a sudden, overwhelming sound can interrupt an attack or make a predator back off before it gets close. The evidence supports that acoustic effect, but the source does not explain how the sound is generated, so we are not filling in the missing machinery with a guess. We only know the shrimp has a seriously intimidating acoustic defense. Now, which strategy is stranger: a tiny shrimp with a gunshot-like blast, or a frog with bone splinters?