Minecraft wiki entry for Shulker, associated text: Originally, shulkers were going to camouflage with a nearby block (shulkers next to purpur would look like purpur, and shulkers next to end stone would look like end stone). However, Jeb decided this was too difficult to code, so instead, shulkers were just purple mobs that would open and shoot.[5]
The word "shulker" is a portmanteau of "shell lurker".[6]
A shulker named 'Dinnerbone' or 'Grumm' flips upside-down, revealing a spiral pattern on the base. This appears to also lift the shulker by the same height as a pressure plate.
By using commands, they can be made to be part of a team to attack other teams and can be used as defense mobs. In that case, it doesn't attack its teammates but targets most hostile mobs without provocation.
Walking toward a shulker at the same level as the player's head pushes the player down to the one-block crawling position if there is space beneath.
If given the invisibility effect, only the shulker's shell becomes invisible. This is different to most other mobs such as armored mobs and saddled pigs, where the living part of the mob turns invisible with the outer areas remaining visible.
In the game's texture files, the shulker bullet is named "spark.png".
Gravity blocks glitch when on top of a shulker. Sand on top of an extended shulker is higher than sand on one block but the sand is solid.
If the shulker was initially attached to the ground and there is a block on the side and on the top, the shulker becomes attached onto the block beside.
In some files, the shulker is referred to as the city golem.