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Fisherman Catches Giant Shrimp in Florida

We’ve all heard about fishermen catching huge sharks and fish, and now one fishermen in Florida has caught a giant shrimp. And by “giant shrimp,” we don’t mean something that i...
Fisherman Catches Giant Shrimp in Florida
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  • We’ve all heard about fishermen catching huge sharks and fish, and now one fishermen in Florida has caught a giant shrimp. And by “giant shrimp,” we don’t mean something that is just a little too big to be used for a shrimp cocktail. According to the man who caught it, this giant crustacean was around 18 inches long.

    Steve Bargeron was fishing off a dock in Fort Pierce, Florida when he felt a strong tug on his line. Most likely thinking that he had caught a nice sized fish, Bargeron reeled in his catch and was stunned by what he had hooked–a giant shrimp. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission posted a few pictures of the shrimp to their Facebook page on Thursday, which have been shared more than 12,000 times.

    Check out the giant shrimp caught by a Florida fisherman below.

    For the record, the FWC isn’t certain that this is a shrimp. According to their Facebook page, scientists believe that this could be a mantis shrimp, “which are actually not related to shrimp, but are a type of crustacean called a stomatopod.” Scientists are continuing to work to identify the shrimp, and if it is indeed a mantis shrimp, then Bargeron may be lucky that he didn’t get injured while handling it.

    According to National Aquarium, the mantis shrimp’s clubs can “strike at 50 miles per hour in milliseconds. One strike is 50 times faster than the blink of a human eye! It can punch 50,000 times between molts without damaging its clubs. The punch of a mantis shrimp is so strong that it can break through the shells of its prey and even thick glass.”

    Further, according to a National Aquarium infographic, a mantis shrimp can punch “with speed equal to a .22 caliber bullet.”

    Ouch. To get a better idea of just how strong and quick a mantis shrimp can be, check out a video of a mantis shrimp striking a crab below:

    After the pictures went viral, quite a few Twitter users were understandably disturbed by the giant shrimp the fisherman caught.

    There is no doubt that this shrimp will be used as inspiration for a Shrimpnado movie, right? As scary as a tornado full of sharks is, there is just something much creepier about that giant shrimp.

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