Animals 16-20 in our '50 incredible animals series'

Hello and welcome to another 50 incredible animals post where we are sharing 5 more animals that you (hopefully) haven't heard of or know much about! Enjoy!

16. Mantis shrimp

Mantis shrimp are colourful but deadly sea-dwelling creatures that live in tropical and sub-tropical seas in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

They may look pretty however, they have a surprisingly strong punch. They can punch up 50 miles per hour with a force of over 1 500 newtons. That's enough to go destroy crab shells and punch their way straight through the glass of an aquarium. The punch is as fast as a bullet and is 2 500 times the force of the animal's on weight. If humans could do that, we would be able to punch through steel! Also mantis shrimp are thought to have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom!

All in all, mantis shrimp are pretty incredible animals!

17. Clownfish

Clownfish are one example for the amazing corporations in the natural world. They live in a close relationship with anemones. The anemone protects them against predators and gives them a place to live. In return, the clownfish bring food and remove parasites from the anemone. This is called a symbiotic relationship.

Anemones are actually poisonous, but these fish have developed ways to stop the anemones from stinging them. This makes anemones the perfect place to hide from predators.

18. Axolotl

What axolotls are best known for, is the fact that they never turn into adults. This is kind of true. Axolotls certainly never undergo metamorphose and therefore look like children for their whole lives. Also, when amphibians turn into adults, they normally leave the water and live on land. Axolotls live in water for their whole lives. So in some sense, they don't turn into adults. However, at some point they mate and lay eggs. It really depends on how you define adulthood.

To make these animals sound even more weird, they can regenerate limbs and organs! Axolotls are territorial and often bite limbs off trespassers. If the trespasser happens to be another axolotl, the limb will grow back later. However these animals are not immortal and they will die of old age when their time comes.

19. Electric eel

These truly are incredible animals as they can grow up to 2.5 meters in length, and sorry to disappoint but they aren't actually eels at all, they are just similar in shape! The shock of these remarkable animals has been known to knock a horse off its feet, which is just amazing! They live in South America, populating the murky pools and basins of the area. A website called aqua states that 'Juveniles feed on invertebrates, such as crabs and freshwater shrimp. As adults, they eat amphibians, fishes and crustaceans.' which sums up their diet. They are able to leap out the water and get most of their oxygen by breathing through their mouth at the surface of the water, which is something they've developed as a result of the muddy, poorly oxygenated waters where they live. To me, these are extremely interesting animals!

20. Desert locusts

These creatures live (surprise surprise) in the desert, mainly in Africa and stretching across to India too. They eat plant material which means that they strip an area of crops when they strike, for they are in fact a real threat to us. Worldbank puts it very nicely saying that 'The growing swarms spread to new areas, disrupting the food supply, upending livelihoods and requiring substantial resources to address. Decimated crops and pasture mean that food security and livelihoods for millions of people—especially in countries marked by fragility, conflict and violence—are at stake.'. They can travel at 21mph and a large swarm can contain about 80 million members! This is another very interesting fact: they change color as they gather in numbers. Neutral-coloured locusts are solitary, but bright yellow locusts are ready to swarm! I think it's incredible how they change colour!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post with another 5 animals and we'll be back soon!

Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/mantis-shrimp
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/clownfish
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/facts/axolotl
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/electric-eel
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/desert-locust
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/the-world-bank-group-and-the-desert-locust-outbreak

Images:
Mantis shrimp: This image, owned by prilfish (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Clownfish: This image, owned by Teddy Hartanto (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Axolotl: This image, owned by john (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Electric eel: Elizabeth (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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