This tiny shrimp makes one of the loudest sounds in the ocean

The pistol shrimp has one claw much larger than the other, tipped with a special "plunger" — when it snaps shut in an instant, it fires a jet of water at such high speed that it triggers cavitation, similar to a mantis shrimp's strike.

The collapsing cavitation bubble generates a sound exceeding 200 decibels at close range — louder than a gunshot or a rocket launch, though its range is very limited compared to those sources.

The shockwave, along with the accompanying flash of light, lets the shrimp stun or kill small fish and other prey at close range, without any need for direct contact.

Colonies of pistol shrimp on coral reefs produce so much snapping at once that they've become one of the main sources of underwater noise interfering with submarine sonar.