Anybody ever been shot by a pistol shrimp?

[damsels are not mean]

I don't have any pistols nor do I have plans to in the future, but it's 3:30 AM and I can't sleep, so I'm curious. Do pistol shrimp bursts hurt? Has anyone ever been snapped or injured by it? In this case I'm talking about the smaller species common in the trade such as A. Randalli.

 

[ying yang]

Never myself but as the lfs worker got mine from under the sand at the lfs picking it up with his bare hands I heard it popping and I said you brave and he says doesn't really hurt,but he will know to be decisive and just grab it rather than fanniying around and hesitating I guess.
Be interested to see what others say who have been "shot" by one.

As stats say bubble hotter than the sun what pistol produces and something like 62 mph burst of water that falls in on itself if remember correctly so think it would burn or break skin but I'm guessing it doesn't and most probably compare to bee sting as that gets thrown around alot when comparing stuff lol

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

in the old days it used to be a common forum post, they used to be called 'thumbsplitters'. In the days when you could still get real live rock that's been in the ocean, thats when you get the amazing and freaky hitchhikers, people would grab the rock unknowingly and get popped on the fingers.

it never happened to me but it used to be a common post about 15-20 years ago.

 

[N.Sreefer]

A pistol shrimps cavitation bubble wouldn't do much to human skin however if your underwater with it the snap can make you go deaf.

"The jet of water created by the pistol shrimp's snapping claw results in noises as loud as 218 decibels. This is louder than a rocket launch or jet engine and more than twice the sound level required to sustain hearing loss."

 

[GlassMunky]

A pistol shrimps cavitation bubble wouldn't do much to human skin however if your underwater with it the snap can make you go deaf.

"The jet of water created by the pistol shrimp's snapping claw results in noises as loud as 218 decibels. This is louder than a rocket launch or jet engine and more than twice the sound level required to sustain hearing loss."

Ummm no
They are called pistol shrimp because if they hit you it’s like you got shot.
people absolutely have had their hands and fingers torn up by pistol shrimp so your ascertain that they won’t do much to human skin is just plain wrong.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Ummm no
They are called pistol shrimp because if they hit you it’s like you got shot.
people absolutely have had their hands and fingers torn up by pistol shrimp so your ascertain that they won’t do much to human skin is just plain wrong.

That's not how the physics work. The cavitation bubble uses force to stun fish not tear them apart a smasher type mantis could do some damage but I don't see how its physically possible that a pistol shrimp would break human skin. They are called a pistol shrimp because of the noise, the force generated by a cavitation bubble creates a shockwave that stuns fish in the area the heat and force are sent into the surrounding water the "surface of the sun" part people quote is within the cavitation bubble and is quickly translated to force when the claw opens. Theres no projectile and force in water quickly dissipates as you move away from the point of origin. Shoot a gun underwater and see how far the bullet travels the momentum is different than on land and force drops quickly.

If we shrank ourselves down to the size of a small fish 2-3 inch long and we were within the shockwave the bubble produces then it could harm us. Technically staring at the claw from a few cm away without goggles may damage your vision and the sound can cause hearing loss but the cavitation bubble is not a risk to a human.

I am sure lots of people have told that story on forums over the years I will go with what is known to the scientific community over anecdotal observation on a website.

 

[F i s h y]

Ummm no
They are called pistol shrimp because if they hit you it’s like you got shot.
people absolutely have had their hands and fingers torn up by pistol shrimp so your ascertain that they won’t do much to human skin is just plain wrong.

Pistol shrimp are named for the loud sound they make. Not because of it feeling like you got shot. The burst from one of these produces about 12 psi of force within a range of 5cm or less.

Thumb splitters was a term given to the much larger cousin the mantis shrimp. They do have the force to split your skin open. The force of a mantis shrimp is capable of breaking open mollusks and snails so the shrimp can eat them.

 

[The_Skrimp]

I have a three or four inch tiger pistol shrimp and have been doing a lot of algae pulling lately. It doesn’t hurt. Just feels like something flicking at your finger. Like F i s h y said, it’s mantis shrimp you have to look out for.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I collect pistol shrimp and they are nothing. My kids also help collect and have been grabbing them since little, with no issues. Mantis shrimp, on the other hand hurt like heck and will split a finger.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I don't have any pistols nor do I have plans to in the future, but it's 3:30 AM and I can't sleep, so I'm curious. Do pistol shrimp bursts hurt? Has anyone ever been snapped or injured by it? In this case I'm talking about the smaller species common in the trade such as A. Randalli.

Pistol (mantis) shrimp would hurt, maybe could break a finger and burn you a little if big and really scared. Snapping shrimp not really, pretty tame and cant even hurt most fish.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

pistol shrimp are weak, all they do is make loud popping noise that stuns fish cause they are small. mantis shrimp are scary though, i had one of their spears penetrate 3/4" into me bleeding like crazy. cause they will banzai charge anything. no shrimp can burn you, how would they even measure the heat from the bubble? air and water are bad conductors of heat.

 

[SlugSnorter]

pistol shrimp are weak, all they do is make loud popping noise that stuns fish cause they are small. mantis shrimp are scary though, i had one of their spears penetrate 3/4" into me bleeding like crazy. cause they will banzai charge anything. no shrimp can burn you, how would they even measure the heat from the bubble? air and water are bad conductors of heat.

From what I read depends on the mantis, some hit fast enough to create a boiling water blast

 

[SPS2020]

I took away his bullets.

 

[GlassMunky]

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