Exploring the extraordinary vision of the mantis shrimp — a creature that sees a world of colors, polarization, and dimensions invisible to the human eye.
TELEMETRY DATA // LAST UPDATED 2026-02-16
The mantis shrimp possesses what may be the most complex visual system in the animal kingdom. While humans have 3 types of color-detecting cells (red, green, and blue), mantis shrimp have up to 16 different types of photoreceptors.
These remarkable creatures can see ultraviolet light, infrared radiation, and circular polarized light—a visual capability unmatched by any other known animal.
"To try to imagine mantis shrimp vision, we would need to simultaneously see more colors than we can even fathom, detect invisible polarized light patterns, and perceive both the ultraviolet and infrared—all while each eye moves independently."
Each of the mantis shrimp's eyes is divided into three regions, giving it trinocular vision with a single eye. This allows for precise depth perception without needing to triangulate between two eyes, making them lethal hunters.
This extraordinary visual system helps mantis shrimp:
Humans perceive color through three types of cone cells that detect red, green, and blue light. By combining these signals, our brains create all the colors we can see.
Mantis shrimp, however, have up to 16 different types of photoreceptors, including ones sensitive to ultraviolet and infrared light that are completely invisible to humans.
Surprisingly, mantis shrimp don't process color the same way we do. Instead of comparing inputs like our brains do, they likely use a more direct recognition system—seeing colors as distinct categories rather than blends.
Mantis shrimp can see:
If humans had mantis shrimp-like vision, our TV screens would need to produce at least 9 more primary colors to display images that look "real" to us.
Click the cards below to explore colors that exist outside human perception, but that mantis shrimp can see.
Invisible to humans but critical for mantis shrimp communication.
Light waves aligned on a single plane, creating patterns invisible to us.
Heat signatures and longer wavelengths beyond human vision.
One of the most extraordinary aspects of mantis shrimp vision is their ability to see polarized light—light waves that oscillate on a single plane.
Even more remarkable, mantis shrimp can detect circular polarized light, a capability shared by no other known animal. This is like adding an entirely new dimension to their visual world.
This ability allows mantis shrimp to:
Drag the slider below to adjust the polarization filter and see how it affects the pattern visibility. This simulates how mantis shrimp can see through camouflage using polarized vision.
The mantis shrimp's polarization vision has inspired advanced camera systems that can:
This simulation demonstrates how the same scene might appear to different species. Drag the slider to compare views.
3 photoreceptors
16 photoreceptors
UV sensitive
Infrared sensing
Humans have three types of cone cells that detect red, green, and blue wavelengths. Our brains combine these signals to create the colors we perceive. We see a limited range of the electromagnetic spectrum, roughly from 380nm (violet) to 700nm (red).
1. How many types of photoreceptors do mantis shrimp have?
3 (same as humans)
5-7
12-16
Over 30
2. Which of these can mantis shrimp detect that humans cannot?
Magnetic fields
Circular polarized light
Sound waves
Radio frequencies
3. What is unusual about how mantis shrimp process color information?
They can only see in black and white
They process color in their eyes, not their brain
They can only see one color at a time
They likely recognize colors directly rather than comparing inputs
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