Steve Bergeron was out fishing in Fort Pierce, Florida when he pulled this monster up from the water. Then he did what anyone would do: he took out his phone and snapped some photos right quick.
Since he didn’t know what he had on his hands, Bergeron submitted his photos to the the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which posted them on its Facebook page. Scientists there weren’t immediately sure what he’d found, but initially identified it as being a member of the mantis shrimp family—which aren’t true shrimps, but are another delicious crustacean called a stomatopod.
Later, the FWC announced that its scientists think it’s a Lysiosquilla scabricauda, or Scaly-tailed Mantis Shrimp. You can view some close-up shots here (PDF).
Mantis shrimps have gained quite a reputation in recent time, due partially to a completely hilarious and terrifying comic done by The Oatmeal, as well as features on programs like NatGeo’s World’s Deadliest. This news story about a mantis shrimp punching its way out of an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium also helped to cement its reputation as a badass sea creature.
The web series Smarter Every Day investigated just how certain mantis shrimps are able to punch so hard, and it’s definitely worth checking out this video if you want to understand it better.
Personally, we like to involve our taste buds in our thought process. So of course, the question we asked ourselves was, “Are mantis shrimps delicious?” We can say definitively that it is, especially at Sushi Nakazawa:
You don’t even have to travel far to find mantis shrimp if you’d like to try them. Serious Eats writer Chichi Wang found some delicious ones at a fishmonger in Flushing. If you want a different style of preparation, they’re also enjoyed as cannochie in Italy (although they kind of look like facehuggers in this video).
Here’s otherinteresting things we found on the Internet today:
The Grub Street Diet Diary with Diablo Cody [Grub Street]
Starbucks is testing new tactics in the US: speed in NY, quality out West [Quartz]
Watch Keizo Shimamoto school Conan O’Brien on ramen [Eater]
Millions struggle to get enough to eat, despite jobs returning [The Salt]
The next big thing in fancy food: seeds [The Atlantic]
The real reason you can’t stop eating in the cinema [Moviepilot]