| Upogebia pugettensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Upogebia deltaura, a related species | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Family: | Upogebiidae |
| Genus: | Upogebia |
| Species: | U. pugettensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Upogebia pugettensis (Dana, 1852) | |
Upogebia pugettensis, also known as the blue mud shrimp, is a species of mud lobster from the West Coast of North America. [1]
Upogebia pugettensis has an elongated and broad abdomen, including a well-developed tail fin (uropods). The shrimp measure up to 11 cm long in adulthood. Its snout (rostrum) is hairy and includes 3 teeth. They eat detritus which they bring into their burrow using their pleopods. Upogebia pugettensis is the host of many parasites: Pseudopythina rugifera , Phyllodurus abdominalis , and Orthione griffenis . [1] [2] [3]
Upogebia pugettensis is found from Valdez Narrows, Alaska, to Morro Bay, California. South of Morro Bay, U. macginitieorum , a very similar species to U. pugettensis, is found. [4]
Upogebia pugettensis lives in Y- or U-shaped burrows (0.6 to 1 m (2.0 to 3.3 ft) deep) that are located in inter-tidal mud flats. These shrimp can tolerate brackish water down to 10% seawater salinity. They usually live in pairs. [1] [2] With their burrows, they've been known to disrupt commercial oyster beds.
Their burrows are important dwellings for many species, including the arrow goby, hooded shrimp, Scleroplax granulata , pea crabs, and clams.
One common predator to these benthic shrimp are the pacific staghorn sculpin. Parasites are also common, particularly the red copepod, which lives on the outside of the body. Another common parasite in Oregon's Yaquinta Bay is Orthione griffenis . This blood-sucking parasite can castrate females and has been shown to lower the weights of infested hosts by an average of 7.8%. [5]
Upogebia pugettensis is currently facing a serious threat from the non-native isopod parasite Orthione griffenis (Markham, 2004). Female Upogebia pugettensis are infested with the parasite more than their male counterparts (80% compared to 57%). Female Orthione griffenis attach themselves to the gill of the shrimp. They then consume the blood of the host, which causes a metabolic burdening effect that greatly hampers reproductive ability. This has caused the decline. [2] [6]
In 2017 the infestation was found to have extended into British Columbia. [7] [8]
Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax.
Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It enters fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue, while the male attatches to the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29 mm (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) wide. Males are about 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) wide. The parasite severs the blood vessels in the fish's tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of the tongue and becomes the fish's new tongue.
Trypaea australiensis, known as the (marine) yabby or ghost nipper in Australia, or as the one-arm bandit due to their occasional abnormally large arm, and as the Australian ghost shrimp elsewhere, is a common species of mud shrimp in south-eastern Australia, the only species in the genus Trypaea. T. australiensis is a popular bait used live or frozen by Australians targeting a range of species. It grows to a length of 6 centimetres (2.4 in) and lives in burrows in mudflats or sandbanks, especially in or near estuaries.
The pea crab, Pinnotheres pisum, is a small crab in the family Pinnotheridae that lives as a parasite in oysters, clams, mussels, and other species of bivalves.
Upogebia is a genus of mud shrimp, in the family Upogebiidae, containing the following species:
The Cymothoidae are a family of isopods in the suborder Cymothoida found in both marine and freshwater environments. Cymoithoids are ectoparasites, usually of fish, and they include the bizarre "tongue-biter", which attaches to a fish's tongue, causing it to atrophy, and replaces the tongue with its own body. Ceratothoa oestroides is one of the most devastating ectoparasites in Mediterranean aquaculture. Around 40 genera and more than 380 species of cymothoid are recognised. Species of the Cymothoidae are generally found in warmer waters and rarely in the cool and cold climates.
Callianassa subterranea is a species of burrowing ghost shrimp. This species is known by such generic common names as "mud shrimp" and "ghost shrimp".
Neotrypaea californiensis, the Bay ghost shrimp, is a species of ghost shrimp that lives on the Pacific coast of North America. It is a pale animal which grows to a length of 11.5 cm (4.5 in). One claw is bigger than the other, especially in males, and the enlarged claw is thought to have a function in mating. N. californiensis is a deposit feeder that lives in extensive burrow systems, and is responsible for high rates of bioturbation. It adversely affects oyster farms, and its numbers are controlled in some places by the application of pesticides. It carries out an important role in the ecosystem, and is used by fishermen as bait.
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.
Hemioniscus balani, a species of isopod crustacean, is a widespread parasitic castrator of barnacle in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Norway to the Atlantic coast of France, and as far west as Massachusetts. It is also commonly found on the Pacific coast of North America; it is not known if the Pacific and Atlantic populations are the same species, or if the Pacific population exists following human-assisted introduction.
The Bopyridae are a family of isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. There are 1223 individual species contained in this family. Members of the family are ectoparasites of crabs and shrimps. They live in the gill cavities or under the carapace where they cause a noticeable swelling. Fossil crustaceans have occasionally been observed to have a similar characteristic bulge.
Pandalus montagui is a species of cold-water shrimp in the family Pandalidae. It is the type species of the genus Pandalus and is variously known as the pink shrimp, Aesop shrimp and Aesop prawn.
Cymothoa elegans is a species of parasitic isopod in the genus Cymothoa. It has rarely been recorded, with all records coming from the north coast of Java. They are in the arthropod phylum and can more closely be classified as crustaceans.
Parasymmetrorbione is a genus of isopod containing a single species, Parasymmetrorbione bicauda.
The arrow goby is a species of goby native to marine and brackish waters of the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia to Baja California. This species grows to a length of 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) SL, though most do not exceed 4.2 centimetres (1.7 in) TL. This fish can also be found displayed in public aquaria. This species is the only known member of its genus.
Clausidium dissimile is a species of copepod that has been found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from Massachusetts to Florida. They are found on the bodies of mud shrimp of the family Callianassidae, or from water collected from mud shrimp burrows.
Loxothylacus panopaei is a species of barnacle in the family Sacculinidae. It is native to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. It is a parasitic castrator of small mud crabs in the family Panopeidae, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Orthione griffenis, or Griffen's isopod, is an isopod parasite present in the waters off East Asia and the West Coast of North America.
Neaeromya rugifera is a species of bivalve that inhabits the West Coast of North America.
Acrobelione halimedae is an isopoda parasite present in the waters off Singapore. First described in 2017, by Boyko, Williams & Shields.
