| Alpheus heterochaelis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Caridea |
| Family: | Alpheidae |
| Genus: | Alpheus |
| Species: | A. heterochaelis |
| Binomial name | |
| Alpheus heterochaelis | |
| Synonyms | |
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Alpheus heterochaelis, the bigclaw snapping shrimp, is a snapper or pistol shrimp in the family Alpheidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The bigclaw snapping shrimp has a small rostrum and no spines on the edge of its carapace. The big claw or chela which gives it its common name can be either the right or left claw and is disproportionally large, measuring half the length of the body. It has a deep notch on either side beneath the finger joint. The other claw is unmodified and of normal size. The bigclaw is the largest species of snapping shrimp in its home range, growing to a maximum length of 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in), but most adults are considerably smaller than this. Its colour is a translucent dark green with orange and blue tips to the uropods. [2]
The bigclaw snapping shrimp is found in tropical and semitropical waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the West Indies, Bermuda, and the western Atlantic Ocean from Cape Hatteras south to Florida and Brazil. [1] It lives close to the seabed in shallow waters favouring reefs, seagrass meadows, salt marshes and muddy areas. It often conceals itself in a natural aperture during the day though it is unclear whether it can dig itself a burrow. [2]
The bigclaw snapping shrimp produces a loud, staccato concussive noise with its snapping claw. The sound is produced when the claw snaps shut at great speed creating a high-speed water jet. This creates a small, short-lived cavitation bubble and it is the immediate collapse of this bubble that creates the sound. [3] A spark is formed at the same time. The snapping noise serves to deter predators and to stun prey, and is also used for display purposes. [2]
The bigclaw snapping shrimp feeds on worms, small crustaceans and fish such as gobies and pearlfish. It is itself eaten by the weakfish (Cynoscion regalis). It is often associated with the black-clawed mud crab (Panopeus herbstii), sharing the crab's burrow and remaining uneaten, even though this crab eats similar-sized shrimps of other species. [2]
Bigclaw snapping shrimps mostly live as monogamous pairs. The female is only receptive for a short time just after moulting. The eggs hatch about four weeks after being laid and the larvae do not feed, but instead rely on their egg yolks. They develop very quickly and pass through their three larval stages in about five days. The newly metamorphosed juvenile shrimps have equal sized chelae; one of these enlarges at a later stage. [2]
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.
Ghost crabs are semiterrestrial crabs of the subfamily Ocypodinae. They are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The name "ghost crab" derives from their nocturnality and their generally pale coloration. They are also sometimes called sand crabs, though the name refers to various other crabs that do not belong to the subfamily.
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, and the family includes some of the smallest vertebrates in the world, such as Trimmatom nanus and Pandaka pygmaea, Trimmatom nanus are under 1 cm long when fully grown, then Pandaka pygmaea standard length are 9 mm (0.35 in), maximum known standard length are 11 mm (0.43 in). Some large gobies can reach over 30 cm (0.98 ft) in length, but that is exceptional. Generally, they are benthic or bottom-dwellers. Although few are important as food fish for humans, they are of great significance as prey species for other commercially important fish such as cod, haddock, sea bass and flatfish. Several gobiids are also of interest as aquarium fish, such as the dartfish of the genus Ptereleotris. Phylogenetic relationships of gobiids have been studied using molecular data.
Emerita is a small genus of decapod crustaceans, known as mole crabs, sand fiddlers, or sand crabs. These small animals burrow in the sand in the swash zone and use their antennae for filter feeding.
The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, while the females' claws are both the same size. A smaller number of ghost crab and mangrove crab species are also found in the family Ocypodidae. This entire group is composed of small crabs, the largest being slightly over two inches (5 cm) across. Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish intertidal mud flats, lagoons, swamps, and various other types of brackish or salt-water wetlands.
The tiger pistol shrimp belongs to the family of snapping shrimp.
Alpheidae is a family within the infraorder caridea characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound.
Stonogobiops nematodes, the Filament-finned prawn-goby, the Antenna goby, the high-fin goby, the red-banded goby, the high-fin red-banded goby, the striped goby, the barber-pole goby, or the black-ray Goby, is a species of marine goby native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean from the Seychelles to the Philippines and Bali.
Diodora cayenensis, the Cayenne keyhole limpet, is a species of small to medium-sized sea snail or limpet, a western Atlantic marine prosobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.
Cardisoma guanhumi, also known as the blue land crab or great land crab, is a species of land crab found in tropical and subtropical estuaries and other maritime areas of land along the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Brazil and Colombia, through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, to the Bahamas, and north to Ponce Inlet, Florida Princess Place Preserve on the Palm Coast, and Bermuda. The species varies in colour from dark blue to brown or pale grey, and may grow to 15 centimetres (6 in) in carapace width and weigh over 500 grams (18 oz).
Squilla mantis is a species of mantis shrimp found in shallow coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean: it is also known as "pacchero" or "canocchia". Its abundance has led to it being the only commercially fished mantis shrimp in the Mediterranean.
Oratosquilla oratoria, the Japanese mantis shrimp, is a species of mantis shrimp found in the western Pacific. It is widely harvested in Japan and eaten as sushi. Like other members of its order it has a powerful spear, which it uses to hunt invertebrates and small fish. It grows to a length of 185 millimetres (7.3 in), and lives at depths of 10–100 metres (33–328 ft).
Alpheus randalli is a species of snapping shrimp in the family Alpheidae. It lives in the Marquesas Islands and parts of the Indian Ocean, including the Seychelles, in association with a goby of the genus Amblyeleotris. The shrimp is transparent or white with prominent red markings.
Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.
The thinstripe hermit crab, Clibanarius vittatus, is a species of hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean.
A shrimp is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – typically belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchiata of the order Decapoda, although some crustaceans outside of this order are also referred to as "shrimp".
The great northern tilefish or golden tile, is the largest species in the family Malacanthidae (tilefishes). It grows to a length of between 38 and 44 inches. The great northern tilefish is a slow-growing and long-lived species that has four stages of life. After hatching from eggs, the larvae are found in plankton. As they grow into juveniles, the individuals seek shelter until finding or making their own burrows. As adults, the tilefish continue to expand their burrows in the sediment throughout their lives. The diet of the larvae is unknown, but presumed to consist of zooplankton; juveniles and adults feed upon various benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish. After reaching sexual maturity between 5 and 7 years of age, females lay eggs throughout the mating season for the male to fertilize, with each female laying an average of 2.3 million eggs.
Squilla empusa is a species of mantis shrimp found in coastal areas of the western Atlantic Ocean. It excavates and occupies a burrow in soft sediment from which it emerges, mainly at night, to feed on fish and invertebrate prey.
Alpheus armatus is a species of snapping shrimp in the family Alpheidae, found in shallow water in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It lives in association with a sea anemone such as Bartholomea annulata, clearing out sand from the cracks and crevices in which the sea anemone often lives.
Alpheus macrocheles, also known as the orange European snapping prawn, is a species of snapping shrimp within the family Alpheidae.