Oh! Snap!: "Have You Heard Those Snapping Shrimp?" Redux : A Lowcountry Tail

This post is based on an oldie-but-goodie website article originally authored by Dennis Adams, Information Services Coordinator (Retired) for the Library's previous website. My husband and I live along a tidal creek and during the COVID-19 shutdown, we spent more time than usual enjoying the fragrances of the lowcountry while sitting on the porches in the early morning or early evening hours. Less traffic on the roads meant less traffic noise wafting over the salt marshes and more sounds of nature coming from the tidal creeks, including pops that we hadn't noticed in a long time. Perhaps you heard some too. Latest update: 24 March 2025

You may have wondered what causes those popping noises coming from the marshes and pluff mud at low tide.

Is it the mud popping? Or maybe a creature like an oyster or a clam?

The answer is: "None of the above."

You've heard of snapping turtles, but how about "snapping shrimp"? In an e-mail [to Adams in or before 2007], Amber Von Harten, [then Fisheries Specialist at the SC Sea Grant Extension Program explained] that the marsh popping sound "is made by a small crustacean that makes its home in the salt marsh, called the Bigclaw Snapping Shrimp, Alpheus heterochaelis.  The shrimp grows up to two inches in length and is characterized by its single, large, modified claw used to generate the loud popping sound many residents hear emanating from the marsh at low tide."

She continued: "Basically the fingers of the claw have two opposing smooth disks with a thin layer of water in between the disks. When the disks separate due to increased pressure, the claw forcibly opens and makes the loud popping sound. This concussion, produced by the claws separating, stuns small animals and is a manner in which to capture prey. The sound is also a defense mechanism to ward off larger predators."

Von Harten found her information in Seashore Animals of the Southeast: A Guide to Common Shallow-Water Invertebrates of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast by Edward E. Ruppert and Richard S. Fox (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1988). She highly recommends this book to local residents as "one of the best for our region of the coast."

Bigclaw Snapping Shrimp are also known as "pistol shrimp." According to Seashore Animals of the Southeast, their sound "can be heard clearly across a large room" in aquariums and "reportedly can break glass." (Some members of the saltwater aquarium community affirm that this is possible while others believe this statement to be more along the lines of an urban legend.) The shrimp's larger claw has a notch "in both the upper and lower margins at the base of the fingers."

Figure 5.1: (A) Alpheus heterochaelis - one of  the largest snapping shrimp. The large snapper claw may be either on the right or the left in both sexes. Modified after Brooks & Herrick [8]. (B) Close-up of the snapper claw in its cocked position. The claw is made transparent by the use of methyl salicylate. The claw has a protruding plunger (labeled pl ) on the dactyl ( d ) and a matching socket ( s ) in the immobile propus ( p ) (Photograph by B. Seibel). During the extremely rapid closure of the snapper claw a high-velocity water jet is formed when the plunger displaces the water from the propus socket. 

Though the web article "Snapping Shrimp Make a Flash with Bubbles" (October 10, 2001) from the California Academy of Sciences' "This Week in the Wild" website is no longer active, the three videos below confirm the statements: "The water jets out of the claws at a speed of up to 62 miles per hours, producing the "low pressure bubble(s) that collapse with a telltale crack." If enough shrimp are snapping their claws at a given moment, they can interfere with sonar tracking of submarines in their immediate area!

"Amazing Pistol Shrimp Stun 'Gun'" from Nat Geo Wild's "World's Deadliest" series:

"Listen to the Crackling of Snapping Shrimp" from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 

Among the comments was this one : "It sounds like they are being fried" with which I concur. This is closer to the sound that I hear behind my home.

"Pistol Shrimp Sonic Weapon" from BBC Weird Science:

I'm a little skeptical about whether the pistol shrimp sounds as much like a pistol firing as the video seems to indicate - but this video does not give the species name of the shrimp being recorded. It may be that the cavitation bubble imploding sound recorded here is not one made by Alpheus heterochaelis that lives in our local salt marshes. 

When the shrimp snap their claws, they also produce a visible but extremely brief (10 nanoseconds or less) burst of light. Nobody knows whether the light serves any purpose for the shrimp. Heat inside the tiny bubbles after a snap can reach 8,500 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Alpheus heterochaelis  Photo by Robert Aguilar, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. 

The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida website says that these living noisemakers [search term "Bigclaw snapping shrimp"] range from the southern Chesapeake Bay to Florida, extending further south to the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, and Brazil. It is a colorful creature: the body color of the Bigclaw Snapping Shrimp is translucent green, and its walking legs are pale red. Often there are bright red or orange tones on the tips of the claws and a blue or purple edge along the uropods (fantail) and body. 

Sources:

"What is a Salt Marsh?" in Guide to the Salt Marshes and Tidal Creeks of the Southeastern United States by the SC Sea Grant Consortium  

Seashore Animals of the Southeast: A Guide to Common Shallow-Water Invertebrates of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast by Edward E. Ruppert and Richard S. Fox (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1988).

Nonideal Turbulence - Scientific Figure 5.1(A) and (B) on ResearchGate 

Amazing Pistol Shrimp Stun 'Gun'" from Nat Geo Wild's "World's Deadliest" series, 11 April 2013 (01:12)

"Listen to the Crackling of Snapping Shrimp" from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 17 February 2020 (01:13) 

"Pistol Shrimp Sonic Weapon" from BBC Weird Science, 16 January 2009 (01:36) 

Wikipedia contributors, "Cavitation," Wikipedia,  

Alpheus heterochaelis, photo by Robert Aguilar, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 13 April 2006 posted to Wikipedia Commons on 25 February 2019 

"Alpheus Heterochaelis" by J. Masterson, last updated 1 September 2008, Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce website 

Staycation Opportunity: "Marker Mania Challenge" with the Beaufort County Historical Society and beyond ...

Update 31 August 2020: The BCHS has extended the Marker Mania Challenge until 25 September 2020. Sign up to participate on their website: https://www.beaufortcountyhistoricalsociety.com/

You may have seen mention on Facebook and/or the local media about the "Marker Mania Challenge" contest being sponsored this summer by our friends in the Beaufort County Historical Society.  In case you haven't, the basics are posted on the BCHS's website. The goal is to get families out and about in the fresh air while keeping to their COVID-19 mitigation bubbles to learn a bit of local history in the process. Kids can even earn prizes for participating. 

Because I had some business over in Jasper County one recent Sunday afternoon, I decided to expand the challenge - to satisfy my own curiosity - to see just how many historic markers I could find directly on State Highway 336 between Snake Road and Tillman.  I stopped at eight markers. In the process, I traversed from the colonial period into the recent past. (Please: No judgment about my ability to take good selfies. My limbs are in proportion to the height of my body. If you've ever seen me in person, you know that I am a short woman. Back when postcards were a thing I would buy them on my vacations because my camera skills were nil).

First up was one of my favorite and often visited historic sites: the grave of Thomas Heyward, Jr. at Old House. The dirt road sort of sneaks up on you if you don't know precisely where it is located if you're coming from Snake Road. Proceed up a beautiful tree-canopied lane passing a couple of mobile homes to get to a small open grassy area and a brick-walled enclosure. 

Oak Lined Lane at Old House

I usually take my house guests here as he was Beaufort District's only Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a Patriot who believed in liberty though he enslaved many people of African origin or descent on his plantations. One of those plantations is the site of the family cemetery.

Heyward Family Cemetery at Old House Plantation

A short distance away is the historic marker for the Battle of Honey Hill. This Civil War engagement was among the last successful Confederate actions. Local units from the area prevented the Union from cutting the Savannah & Charleston Railroad in early November 1864. One of my ancestors was in the South Carolina 3rd Cavalry based in the area and should likely have been present but it seems that he was incarcerated on the date of the battle based on information from his muster roll.  

I made a slight detour from State Highway 336 to visit Grahamville. The old village is at the four-way stop where there are two historic markers. I am not an intrepid explorer so the high grass around the Grahamville sign prevented me from getting up close. (This is where the wonderful Zoom In feature on a smartphone is so appreciated.) 

We have several rare documents in the Research Room relating to events held in Grahamville: a paper presented to the Beaufort County Historical Society in 1949;  a copy of The Political Life and Services of the Hon. R. Barnwell Rhett of South Carolina by Daniel Wallace that includes Rhett's Independence Day speech in Grahamville in 1859; and Rev. Arthur Wigfall's A Sermon upon Duelling delivered in 1856 at the Holy Trinity Church. (Rev. Wigfall was strongly against dueling. We hope to get Neil Baxley to deliver his presentation about dueling in Beaufort District again once we can safely gather together in a common physical space.)

The village's Holy Trinity Anglican Church occupies one of the four corners at the intersection of Bees Creek Road and State Road S-2-29, also known as Smiths Crossing. It began life as a chapel of ease for Episcopalian planters in St. Luke's Parish. I have always liked its carpenter Gothic architecture. It is a rather small but lovely antebellum church. As the historic marker indicates, it is the only physical structure in the village to survive the Union advance. When I lived in Jasper County, I attended a christening and several funerals held there. 

As an added treat, I could hear the organist practicing a Bach Prelude and Fugue as I stood outside.

My errands included a stop by the Ridgeland Post Office so I took Bees Creek Road back to where it intersected with State Highway 336. There I came upon the "Ridgeland" historic marker at the railroad track crossing on Main Street. 

(A little known fact: one of my ancestors signed the town's charter.) Nearby is a statue in honor of the only land tortoise native to the Southeast, the gopher tortoise. Destruction of long-leaf pine forests has led to the species' status as vulnerable to extinction. It's fitting that the Historic Marker is in the park housing the gopher tortoise statue as the settlement was called originally called "Gopher Hill." The town's origins are recalled each October when the "Gopher Hill Festival" is celebrated. Unfortunately like many other 2020 Festivals, COVID-19 has caused this year's festival to be cancelled. 

Just on the other side of the railroad track is the Ridgeland Post Office at 7554 W. Main Street. I picked up my mail relating to our properties in Jasper County. The Post Office building does not have an historical marker but next door to the Post Office is another State Highway 336 historic marker. 

(I don't look particularly happy, do I?) I have two personal connections to St. Paul's Methodist Church. My great-grandmother Inez Grace Buckner Lewis Sanders used to be a member of the congregation. My two eldest children attended the St. Paul's pre-school getting a wonderful start on the path to the joy of learning.  

There are more churches with historic markers heading out State Highway to Tillman, the African-American congregations of St. John's and St. Matthew's. The St. John's AME Church marker commemorates a tragic event in South Carolina's recent history, the Massacre at Mother Emanuel Church in 2015. In his youth, Reverend Clementa Pinckney preached here. After his murder, his body returned to the sanctuary for a viewing before his funeral held in Charleston. When the Research Room re-opens to the public, we also have a vertical file of materials gathered about Senator Pinckney that guests can review.

Less than 2/10th of a mile away, there is an historic marker for the St. Matthew Baptist Church. Like many of the historic African-American congregations, it was founded in the Reconstruction Era.

Like the marker for Ridgeland, the marker at the intersection of State Highway 336 and US Highway 321 indicates a name change. In 1820 the area was known as "Hennis Crossroads" but was renamed in honor of George D. Tillman, US Congressman and political rival to Robert Smalls.  Tillman was from a South Carolina political dynasty in the Reconstruction Era: He was a brother of Gov. Benjamin Tillman, and father of James H. Tillman who shot and killed an Elliott family member, Narciso Gonzales, editor of The State newspaper on the street in Columbia in 1903. 

If true crime is your genre of choice, I recommend that you borrow Deadly Censorship: Murder, Honor & Freedom of the Press by James Underwood about the assassination of Gonzales. The Library has physical copies that you can get through curbside service or download as an e-book from Hoopla. 

I encourage each reader to seek out some sites or markers to people, places, themes and events related to where you live or may be visiting this summer. If you happen to be in Beaufort County and would like to participate in "Marker Mania Challenge", I'm sure that the Beaufort County Historical Society would welcome your participation. 

Lighthouses and Range Lights Photographs at the National Archives

In honor of  National Lighthouse Day on August 7, I am posting some of the content I received from the National Archives Catalog e-newsletter on 9 July 2020. To see the 213 images of the South Carolina lighthouses and range lights, including some in Beaufort County, use this link: https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=South%20Carolina&f.ancestorNaIds=513238  You Light Up My Life Lighthouse fans and photography aficionados! Allow us to navigate you to a completely digitized series of Coast Guard lighthouse photographs: 26-LG: Lighthouses, 1855 -1933. Photograph of the Construction of the St. George Reef Light Station in California, 1892. National Archives Identifier 7682787 The photographs, Coast Guard records that were originally taken by the Lighthouse Board and Lighthouse Service, document a fascinating period of U.S. Lighthouse history as well as the development of photographic technology.  Because they were taken between 1855 and 1933, the Albumen, Collodion, Gelatin-Silver Printing Out, and Gelatin-Silver Developing Out photographic processes are all represented in the series. There are also a few Cyanotypes. Most of the photographic prints were mounted, and mounts often contain caption information that was transcribed during the digitization process. Images (Including Cyanotypes) of Esophus Island, New York L: National Archives Identifier 45692947 R: National Archives Identifier 45692951 26-LG: Lighthouses, 1855 -1933 is completely digitized and available to view and download in the National Archives Catalog. The series was arranged by district number with each district corresponding to a geographic area. Within these districts, photos were then arranged in loose alphabetical order according to the name of the lighthouses. This arrangement is reflected in our Catalog, where the file units are listed geographically. To browse for photographs by location, navigate to the 26-LG series description and click on the link: “1125 file unit(s) described in the catalog.” This will take you to a list of file units within the series, grouped by location. When you select the location that interests you, the file unit description will provide you access to the images you wish to see. For example, if you click on “Maine — Egg Rock,” you will see a page that contains specific information about the photos of Egg Rock in Maine. Typically there will be nothing extraordinary here. However, you can see that there are 7 Egg Rock, Maine images described in the Catalog. By clicking on either “7 item(s) described in the catalog” or the “Search within this file unit” button, you will be able to access all 7 Egg Rock, Maine photos at once. Images of Egg Rock, Maine L: National Archives Identifier 18237567 R: National Archives Identifier 18237561 To search the entire series by keyword, begin at the 26-LG series description, and select the “Search within this series” button. This will take you to a page where you can search every image in 26-LG at once using keywords in the search bar. You will see the wildcard symbol *:* is already in the search bar at the top of the page. This is very important – it tells the Catalog to only look at records within the series you have selected. If you know the name of the lighthouse or location you are looking for, remove the wildcard symbols and type the name in the search bar.  For example, if you wish to look for Egg Rock photos, remove the wildcard symbol and type in “Egg Rock”. This will take you to all the photos in 26-LG related to Egg Rock. It is important to notice that your search results using this method will often be different – there is an Egg Rock in Massachusetts as well as in Maine, and using the keyword “Egg Rock” returns photos from both locations. Images of Egg Rock, Massachusetts L: National Archives Identifier 45691499 R: National Archives Identifier 45691501 The digital images from 26-LG were scanned at high resolution and may be downloaded directly from our Catalog. They are not subject to copyright. We hope you enjoy these images as much as we do, and we encourage you to share your favorites with us! Today’s post comes from Kelsey Noel, currently a supervisory archivist in the Accessioning and Basic Processing Section at the National Archives. Read the full post on the Unwritten Record blog. Up for some coloring? Try our Lighthouses Coloring book! You can learn more about these incredible photographs in a Know Your Records presentation by Kelsey Noel, former processing archivist in the National Archives Still Picture Branch.