Specialized spatially-arranged non-circular fibers enhance filtration performance of African shrimp (Atya gabonensis)

African shrimp (Atya gabonensis) inhabit clear freshwaters, where the notably low concentration of food may pose a challenge to the efficacy of filter fibers on the chela for filter-feeding. Here, we investigate how the distinctive cross-sectional characteristics and spatial arrangement of the African shrimp’s non-circular fibers contribute to the enhanced filtration performance of these specialized fibers. The unilateral thickening of the wall along the long axis of the elliptical cross-section of African shrimp fibers markedly enhances the filtration performance. The staggered and twisted arrangement of the fibers optimizes the surrounding flow field, achieving a favorable balance between pressure drop and collection efficiency, consequently improving their filtration performance in collecting fine particles (diameter: 2–10 μm). Moreover, the arrangement of the fibers substantially increases the effective flow-facing filtering area of the fiber bundles, thus facilitating their efficiency in collecting larger particles (diameter > 10 μm). The unique fiber properties of the African shrimp offer novel insights for the design and optimization of new fiber-filtering robots, presenting a wide range of potential applications, such as marine in-situ resource extraction, medical filtration, and industrial filtration.