The Caridea, commonly known as caridean shrimp or true shrimp, from the Greek word καρίς, καρίδος, are an infraorder of shrimp within the order Decapoda. This infraorder contains all species of true shrimp. They are found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Many other animals with similar names – such as the mud shrimp of Axiidea and the boxer shrimp of Stenopodidea – are not true shrimp, but many have evolved features similar to true shrimp.
The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossils of the group date to the Devonian.
Reptantia is a clade of decapod crustaceans named in 1880 which includes lobsters, crabs and many other well-known crustaceans.
Pleocyemata is a suborder of decapod crustaceans, erected by Martin Burkenroad in 1963. Burkenroad's classification replaced the earlier sub-orders of Natantia and Reptantia with the monophyletic groups Dendrobranchiata (prawns) and Pleocyemata. Pleocyemata contains all the members of the Reptantia, as well as the Stenopodidea, and Caridea, which contains the true shrimp.
Thalassinidea is a former infraorder of decapod crustaceans that live in burrows in muddy bottoms of the world's oceans. In Australian English, the littoral thalassinidean Trypaea australiensis is referred to as the yabby, frequently used as bait for estuarine fishing; elsewhere, however, they are poorly known, and as such have few vernacular names, "mud lobster" and "ghost shrimp" counting among them. The burrows made by thalassinideans are frequently preserved, and the fossil record of thalassinideans reaches back to the late Jurassic.
Upogebiidae is a family of mud shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Gebiidea, within the order Decapoda. They are infauna, living their entire adult lives in seafloor burrows. Over 100 species have been identified, with different species often highly specialized for different types of substrate, even including sea sponges or coral. They are filter feeders, although some species also deposit feed.
Callianassidae is a family of ghost shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Axiidea, within the order Decapoda.
Gilvossius tyrrhenus is a species of thalassinidean crustacean which grows to a length of 70 mm (2.8 in). It lives in burrows in shallow sandy parts of the sea-bed in the Mediterranean Sea and northern Atlantic Ocean. It is the most common thalassinidean in the Mediterranean, and has been used as bait by fishermen for at least 200 years.
Thalassina is a genus of mud lobsters found in the mangrove swamps of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Its nocturnal burrowing is important for the recycling of nutrients in the mangrove ecosystem, although it is sometimes considered a pest of fish and prawn farms.
Vulcanocalliax arutyunovi is a species of Thalassinidea found on a mud volcano in the Gulf of Cádiz between Spain and Morocco. It was discovered during the Census of Marine Life, and is so distinct from its closest relatives that it has been placed in a new subfamily, the Vulcanocallianacinae. The species is unusually large for a ghost shrimp, but despite that appears to brood only a single embryo. The species is named after the volcano on which it was discovered, Captain Arutyunov.
Gebiidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans. Gebiidea and Axiidea are divergent infraoders of the former infraorder Thalassinidea. These infraorders have converged ecologically and morphologically as burrowing forms. Based on molecular evidence as of 2009, it is now widely believed that these two infraorders represent two distinct lineages separate from one another. Since this is a recent change, much of the literature and research surrounding these infraorders still refers to the Axiidea and Gebiidea in combination as "thalassinidean" for the sake of clarity and reference. This division based on molecular evidence is consistent with the groupings proposed by Robert Gurney in 1938 based on larval developmental stages.
Biffarius is a genus of ghost shrimp in the family Callianassidae, containing species formerly included in the genus Callianassa. Its members are small and generally live in the intertidal zone. In April 2020, a new species was described from the northeastern Brazilian coast. Biffarius was named in honour of Thomas A. Biffar, and includes the following species:
Lepidophthalmus turneranus, the Cameroon ghost shrimp, is a species of "ghost shrimp" or "mud lobster" that lives off the coast of West Africa. It occasionally erupts into dense swarms, one of which resulted in the naming of the country Cameroon.
Calliapagurops charcoti is a species of mud shrimp from Macaronesia. It is the only mud shrimp known from Madeira, and is the only species of mud shrimp thought to be a filter feeder.
Acanthaxius is a genus of mud lobster native to the Indo-Pacific oceans. It has a slender rostrum which is longer than the eyestalks, is spinose and has seven spines and has a depth range of 228–438 metres (748–1,437 ft).
Geograpsus lividus is a species of crab in the family Grapsidae. Little research has been conducted on this species. It was originally classified as belonging to the genus Grapsus; however, this name is no longer used.
Gourretiidae is a family of crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Axiidea, within the order Decapoda.
Callichirus major sensu lato is a monophyletic species complex of ghost shrimp in the infraorder Axiidea, found in flat sandy beaches across the Pan-American coastline.
Laomediidae is a family of mud shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Gebiidea, within the order Decapoda.
Guyanacaris is a genus of Axiidae shrimp. Its type species is Guyanacaris hirsutimana.
