Caprellidira: Difference between revisions

Skeleton shrimp
	Pariambus typicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Amphipoda
Suborder:	Corophiidea
Infraorder:	Caprellida; Leach, 1814
Families
	see text

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 20:17, 20 September 2011

Skeleton shrimp are marine crustaceans of the infraorder Caprellida. The name denotes the threadlike slender body which allows them to virtually disappear among the fine filaments of seaweed, hydroids and bryozoans.

Description

Laas should stop hitting people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like the walking stick insect, the body shape and colour of skeleton shrimp help them blend into their surroundings and the gentle back and forth swaying resembles substrate within the water current. They travel by extending their bodies forward, grasping with their gnathopods, inching upwards with their back (like an inchworm), bringing their pereiopods forward to grasp and then repeating the process. To swim, they rapidly bend and straighten their bodies. The average length in the family Caprellidae is approximately 4 centimetres (1.6 in). The males tend to be much longer than the females. Although the anatomy can differ slightly between species, their bodies are generally divided into three sections:

Cephalon: head, gnathopod 1, antenna
Thorax: gnathopod 2, branchiae (sac-like gills), brood pouch (females), abdomen
Pereiopods: three appendages located at the posterior end of the thorax which are used for grasping

Ecology

Caprellids are exclusively marine and are found in oceans worldwide. A few species are found in the ocean depths, but most prefer low intertidal zones and subtidal waters among eelgrass, hydroids and bryozoans. They are typically seen attached to substrate by their grasping appendages called the pereiopods.

Caprellids are omnivorous, feeding on diatoms, detritus, protozoans, smaller amphipods, and crustacean larvae. Some species are filter feeders, using their antennae to filter food from the water or scrape it off the substrate. Most species are predators that sit and wait like a praying mantis, with their gnathopods ready to snatch any smaller invertebrates which come along. They accentuate their adaptive form and colouration by assuming an angular pose, resembling that of the fronds among which they live.^[2] They remain motionless for long periods of time while waiting to ambush their prey, often protozoa or small worms.

Caprellids are typically preyed upon by surf perch, shrimp, nudibranchs such as the lion nudibranch Melibe leonina and brooding anenomes (Epiactis prolifera). Since they often inhabit eelgrass beds with sessile jellyfish, (Halicylystus and Thaumatoscyphus), the caprellids frequently become jellyfish food.^[3] Caprellids are not normally considered a main source of food for fish, but when shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata) migrate into the eelgrass beds for reproduction, they target caprellids.^[4]

Reproduction and growth

Mating can only occur when the female is between the new and hardened exoskeletons, which both male and female do in order to grow. After mating the female will brood the fertilized eggs within her brood pouch. The young will hatch and emerged as juvenile adults.^[5] After mating, the female in some species have been known to kill the males by injecting venom from a claw within their gnathopod.^[6]

Classification

Twelve families are currently recognised in the group:^[7]

Aetiopedesidae Myers & Lowry, 2003
Caprellidae Leach, 1814
Caprogammaridae Kudrjaschov & Vassilenko, 1966
Cyamidae Rafinesque, 1815
Dulichiidae Laubitz, 1983
Isaeidae Dana, 1853
Ischyroceridae Stebbing, 1899
Paragammaropsidae Myers & Lowry, 2003
Pariambidae Laubitz, 1993
Photidae Boeck, 1871
Podoceridae Leach, 1814
Rakiroidae Myers & Lowry, 2003

References

^ "Caprellida Leach, 1814". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
^ Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 DVD. Article - Skeleton Shrimp
^ Eugene N. Kozloff (1983). "Sessile Jellyfish". Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295960302.
^ Edsel A. Caine (1991). "Caprellid amphipods: fast food for the reproductively active". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 148 (1): 27–33. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(91)90144-L.
^ Kevin Mwenda (2005). "Caprella laeviuscula". The Race Rocks Taxonomy. Lester B. Pearson College.
^ Jennifer Telnack. "Caprella laeviuscula: the smooth skeleton shrimp". Intertidal Marine Invertebrates of the South Puget Sound. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
^ Claude De Broyer (2010). J. Lowry (ed.). "Caprellida". World Amphipoda database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved August 31, 2011.

External links

Media related to Caprellida at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Caprellida at Wikispecies
Some information on Caprella bathytatos
Photos of skeleton shrimp

[1] "Caprellida Leach, 1814". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved March 4, 2011.

[2] Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 DVD. Article - Skeleton Shrimp

[Sessile_Jellyfish-3] Eugene N. Kozloff (1983). "Sessile Jellyfish". Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295960302.

[4] Edsel A. Caine (1991). "Caprellid amphipods: fast food for the reproductively active". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 148 (1): 27–33. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(91)90144-L.

[5] Kevin Mwenda (2005). "Caprella laeviuscula". The Race Rocks Taxonomy. Lester B. Pearson College.

[6] Jennifer Telnack. "Caprella laeviuscula: the smooth skeleton shrimp". Intertidal Marine Invertebrates of the South Puget Sound. Retrieved June 2, 2010.

[7] Claude De Broyer (2010). J. Lowry (ed.). "Caprellida". World Amphipoda database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved August 31, 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ==Description==
 {{unreferenced section|date=August 2011}}
-Like the [[Phasmatodea|walking stick insect]], the body shape and colour of skeleton shrimp help them [[camouflage|blend into their surroundings]] and the gentle back and forth swaying resembles substrate within the water current. They travel by extending their bodies forward, grasping with their gnathopods, inching upwards with their back (like an inchworm), bringing their pereiopods forward to grasp and then repeating the process. To swim, they rapidly bend and straighten their bodies. The average length in the family Caprellidae is approximately {{convert|4|cm}}. The males tend to be much longer than the females. Although the anatomy can differ slightly between species, their bodies are generally divided into three sections:
+Laas should stop hitting people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like the [[Phasmatodea|walking stick insect]], the body shape and colour of skeleton shrimp help them [[camouflage|blend into their surroundings]] and the gentle back and forth swaying resembles substrate within the water current. They travel by extending their bodies forward, grasping with their gnathopods, inching upwards with their back (like an inchworm), bringing their pereiopods forward to grasp and then repeating the process. To swim, they rapidly bend and straighten their bodies. The average length in the family Caprellidae is approximately {{convert|4|cm}}. The males tend to be much longer than the females. Although the anatomy can differ slightly between species, their bodies are generally divided into three sections:
 *Cephalon: head, gnathopod 1, antenna
 *Thorax: gnathopod 2, branchiae (sac-like gills), [[Brood pouch (Peracarida)|brood pouch]] (females), abdomen