Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Snapping shrimp make flashing bubbles

Nature volume 413, pages 477–478 (2001)Cite this article

The cavitation bubbles created by shrimp in stunning their prey have some surprising properties.

Abstract

Snapping shrimp produce a loud crackling noise1,2 that is intense enough to disturb underwater communication. This sound originates from the violent collapse of a large cavitation bubble generated under the tensile forces of a high-velocity water jet formed when the shrimp's snapper-claw snaps shut3 (Fig. 1). Here we show that a short, intense flash of light is emitted as the bubble collapses, indicating that extreme pressures and temperatures of at least 5,000 K (ref. 4) must exist inside the bubble at the point of collapse. We have dubbed this phenomenon 'shrimpoluminescence' — the first observation, to our knowledge, of this mode of light production in any animal — because of its apparent similarity to sonoluminescence5,6, the light emission from a bubble periodically driven by ultrasound.

The light flash (not visible here) is indicative of the high temperature and pressure in the bubble interior at the point of collapse.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 2: Sound and light from a snapping shrimp (Alpheus heterochaelis).

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Everest, F. A., Young, R. W. & Johnson, M. W. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 20, 137–142 (1948).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Schmitz, B. in Physiology of the Crustacean Nervous System (ed. Wiese, K.) 521–533 (Springer, Berlin, 2001).

  3. Versluis, M., Schmitz, B., von der Heydt, A. & Lohse, D. Science 289, 2114–2117 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. McNamara, W. B., Didenko, Y. T. & Suslick, K. S. Nature 401, 772–775 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Brennen, C. E. Cavitation and Bubble Dynamics (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1995).

  6. Crum, L. A. Phys. Today 47, 22–29 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ohl, C. D. Zur Dynamik und Lumineszenz von Kavitationsblasen. Thesis, Georg August Univ., Göttingen (1999).

  8. Baghdassarian, O., Tabbert, B. & Williams, G. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2437–2440 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Applied Physics and J. M. Burgers Research Centre for Fluid Dynamics, University of Twente, PO Box 217, AE Enschede, 7500, The Netherlands

    Detlef Lohse & Michel Versluis

  2. Lehrstuhl für Zoologie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, Garching, 85747, Germany

    Barbara Schmitz

Authors
  1. Detlef Lohse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Barbara Schmitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michel Versluis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Detlef Lohse.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lohse, D., Schmitz, B. & Versluis, M. Snapping shrimp make flashing bubbles. Nature 413, 477–478 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35097152

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35097152

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing