snapping shrimps & co

Hi folks !

Maybe not the right place for this message - I do not want critique of my photos but instead search for photos of very common but (almost) never photographed animals !

I am marine biologist/zoologist at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, working on the marine shrimp family Alpheidae, popularly known as SNAPPING SHRIMPS (doing mainly taxonomy and phylogeny).

I assume most of you know these shrimps, e.g., from underwater click sounds ("pan fry") and of course, from associations with shrimp gobies in the Indo-West Pacific and Caribbean. However, it is important to precise that many snapping shrimps do not have snapping claw and are unable to snap, some have really bizarre-looking claws.

The taxonomy of this group is extremely difficult and most people are unable to identify these shrimps even with scientific literature and keys. I am trying to find colour pictures of alpheid shrimps in order to match morphological descriptions with colour patterns, which in many cases are species-specific.

Browsing underwater galleries and dive site forums I have rarely (actually only once) seen pictures of snapping shrimps, probably because many are found in very shallow water (intertidal to 5 m), where most people don't dive, and have a very cryptic life style, dwelling under stones, in coral rubble, in sponges, in clams, and in burrows ... while most people don't actively search for animals but take pictures of what they see swimming on the surface, crawling on the bottom or clinging to the corals.

Anyway, if you have pictures of snapping shrimps or some other bizarre-looking shrimps (look at the claws !), please drop me the line at

artour_a@yahoo.com

Of course, all photos will be used in scientific purpose only

HAVE A NICE WEEK AND GREETINGS FROM THE TROPICAL CANADA (it snows outside ... for the first time since May !)

Hi Art, and welcome to Wetpixel.

I'm sure that in no time flat (this is a DIGITAL forum afterall) members here will be posting snapping (sometimes called "pistol" shrimp) photos!

These are a favorite subject of many underwater photographers because of their interesting behavior and their interesting interactions w/ other marine life.

Here is a photo of an Alpheus sp. cohabitating (sp???) in a "curlycue" anemone with some Pedersen's shrimp. This photo was taken in Belize:

As I was lining up to take this shot of the Pedersen's shrimp, the pistolier came charging out and fired one off at me. It was quite a surprise.

Cheers

James Wiseman

James

thanks for the picture !

the pistol shrimp is Alpheus armatus or a closely related species (there are three others in this complex), I would need to see at least the colour pattern of the major claw to tell more about its identity

the anemone is Bartholomea annulata

looking forward to see more snappingh shrimps on this forum

cheers

Art

I got a group of 5 in Lembeh - I'll try and post em tomorrow

I've got a shot of a bizarre shrimp ... well maybe its a shrimp ?????

and this is the same creature without the strobe light ...

Taken with Nikon F70 + Nikkor 60mm + Subal Housing

Jervis Bay March 2003

Sorry, I know this is a crab and not a shrimp but would like some help with ID please!

These two weird critters were found on a night dive in Fiji. They were hovering around a clam - the one picture kind of shows a crab sitting on the clam mantle. At one stage they suddenly disappeared into the clam. I felt badly as I thought my light had caused them to get gobbled up. However, they safely re-emerged a few minutes later when the clam opened up!

Any ideas?

Oops -sorry not sure what happened there!

Here is the other one.

Hi Guys,

I think that Art is looking for photos of PISTOL or SNAPPING shrimp. These have the distinctive characteristic of one large claw and one smaller one. The large claw is the one they use for the snapping.

Like the red shrimp in the lower left in the shot I posted.

So keep looking - I'm sure we have some more.

Cheers

James

Hey people !

thanks for all contributions !!!

really interesting photos !!! I am not only interested in snapping shrimps, as a naturalist I am interested in all critters !

Lndr's photos show a pontoniine shrimp (family Palaemonidae, subfamily Pontoniinae), I can tell you more if you tell me the locality on what is it sitting on

the crab from Fiji is of course, a majid (spider crab, Majidae), I am sure have already seen this species, with its long second legs bearing a row of bristles, the claws are very small (visible on the macro shot), I can't recall the name now, but will find it out

keep posting your bizarre crusties ! and pistol shrimps, too ))

cheers

Art

hi there

Andre, your crab is Oncinopus sp., there are several undescribed / unidentifiable species in the Indo-West Pacific

the famous orangutan crab associated with the bubble coral Plerogyra and often mis-identified as "Achaeus japonicus", belongs to this genus, too

still working on little pontoniine shrimp with the assumption it's from New South Wales

cheers

Art

Hiya Art,

Yep, the shrimp is from Jervis Bay, NSW, Australia. It was taken in April this year which is Autumn - if that makes a difference.

It is definitely on a sponge, not sure which one. Possibly a Haliclona species, but really don't know . As a kid I knew it as Deadmans Fingers from when it washed up on the beach. The isopods in the other thread are also on this particular sponge.

cheers

Lndr

Hi Art

Thanks very much for the information on the crab. Its great to have a pro available on line!

So does this crab actually use the clam shell for protection?

hey !

it's difficult to say, I don't think this Oncinopus lives in permanent association with the clam, although it may occasionally shelter within the mantle cavity

of course, some other majids are well known for their obligate associations with other inverts (soft corals, whip corals, bubble corals etc.)

nobody currently seems to work on the taxonomy of IWP majids, that's why my id is tentative ! otherwise, I would forward the photo to a specialist

Art

Lndr

are you sure that your two photos show the same shrimp ??

the red-one has a much broader (we call it "higher") rostrum, and is probably a hippolytid close to Latreutes

the second one could be either a hippolytid or a pontoniine shrimp

can you provide me with better resolution photos ?

cheers

Art

All very interesting. I've seen that shrimp near Mabul. There's a particular dive where the Sipidan Water Village divemasters can show several to you.

It seems to me I've seen orangutan crab in a number of settings including bubble coral.

Art,

please find attached a photo of a couple of Alpheus ochrostriatus (I believe, please correct me!) from Tulamben, Bali.

Id of the goby would be welcome as well

Br,

Jukka-Pekka

Hi

thanks for the shrimp-goby picture

the name "Alpheus ochrostriatus" is actually invalid, but everybody continues to call this species A. ochrostriatus (also in UW guides), although I pointed it out in Debelius' crustacean guide

actually this species is still undescribed, we have specimens but we have to clear the taxonomic mess first

the goby is either Amblyeleotris periophthalma or a closely related undescribed species Amblyeleotris sp. from Indonesia (see Kuiter & Tonozuka, Indonesian Reef Fishes, they list and illustrate several undescribed

cheers

Art

G'day Art,

are you sure that your two photos show the same shrimp ??

aaaaah, well ... same day, same dive, same sponge ... subsequent frames ...

these guys really don't like the strobe light - they tend to do a runner - so maybe when I reframed my shot I picked up another shrimp

I can see that the rostrum appears different ... I think you're right

can you provide me with better resolution photos ?

I am on the road at the moment, so maybe I can email you some higher res stuff when I get back.

cheers

Leander

BTW diving in Jervis Bay again in a couple of days ... so MAYBE there will be some better shots of "Matty's Isopod"

Hi

Matty's small critter was confirmed as an asellote, spider-like ISOPOD, possibly a new species (!!!) of Munnidae, and the red isopods are, according to an expert in Sydney, rather Munnidae than Paramunnidae, and poissibly new, too (!!!)

next time you guys dive in Jervis Bay, PLEASE pick up a few specimens in a plastic bag and preserve them in rum or better in 70% dilluted pharmacy alcohol

still working on your sponge-clinging shrimps, but better resolution of the head would help a lot

cheerio

Art