Look Into My Eyes Mantis shrimp is a short video explaining the extraordinary vision of these weirdlooking burrowing shrimps. Mantis shrimp eyes are considered extraordinary because they have a unique and complex design that provides them with exceptional visual abilities. They have up to 16 photoreceptors in their eyes, allowing them to see a much wider spectrum of colors than humans, who have only three photoreceptors. Additionally, mantis shrimp eyes are capable of detecting polarized light and rapid movement, which is particularly useful for locating prey and detecting predators. They also have the ability to move each eye independently, providing them with nearly 360degree vision and the ability to see in stereo. All of these features combined make mantis shrimp eyes some of the most advanced and sophisticated eyes in the animal kingdom.

More about the mantis shrimp (and its exceptional vision):
Wikipedia quote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_...

"The eyes of the mantis shrimp are mounted on mobile stalks and can move independently of each other. They are thought to have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom and have the most complex frontend for any visual system ever discovered. Compared with the three types of photoreceptor cells that humans possess in their eyes, the eyes of a mantis shrimp have between 12 and 16 types of photoreceptor cells."

"Furthermore, some of these shrimp can tune the sensitivity of their longwavelength colour vision to adapt to their environment. This phenomenon, called "spectral tuning", is speciesspecific."

"Despite the impressive range of wavelengths that mantis shrimp have the ability to see, they do not have the ability to discriminate wavelengths less than 25 nm apart. It is suggested that not discriminating between closely positioned wavelengths allows these organisms to make determinations of their surroundings with little processing delay. Having little delay in evaluating surroundings is important for mantis shrimp, since they are territorial and frequently in combat."

"Each compound eye is made up of tens of thousands of ommatidia, clusters of photoreceptor cells. Each eye consists of two flattened hemispheres separated by parallel rows of specialised ommatidia, collectively called the midband. The number of ommatidial rows in the midband ranges from two to six. This divides the eye into three regions. This configuration enables mantis shrimp to see objects with three parts of the same eye. In other words, each eye possesses trinocular vision, and therefore depth perception. The upper and lower hemispheres are used primarily for recognition of form and motion, like the eyes of many other crustaceans."

"Mantis shrimp can perceive wavelengths of light ranging from deep ultraviolet (300 nm) to farred (720 nm) and polarized light."

"Some species have at least 16 photoreceptor types, which are divided into four classes (their spectral sensitivity is further tuned by colour filters in the retinas), twelve for colour analysis in the different wavelengths and four for analysing polarised light. By comparison, most humans have only four visual pigments, of which three are dedicated to seeing colour, and human lenses block ultraviolet light."

"Six species of mantis shrimp have been reported to be able to detect circularly polarized light, which has not been documented in any other animal. Some of their biological quarterwaveplates perform more uniformly over the visual spectrum than any current manmade polarising optics."

"In mantis shrimps, the movement of the stalked eye is unusually free and can be driven up to 70° in all possible axes of movement by eight eyecup muscles divided into six functional groups. By using these muscles to scan the surroundings with the midband, they can add information about forms, shapes, and landscapes, which cannot be detected by the upper and lower hemispheres of the eyes. They can also track moving objects using large, rapid eye movements where the two eyes move independently."