PORT PHILLIP BAY


Comma Shrimp 

Glyphocuma bakeri (Hale, 1936)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Telson without caudal rami; thoracopods divided into maxillipeds (1 or 3 pairs) contributing to mouthparts, and pereopods (7 or 5 pairs); mandible with a lacinia mobilis (articulating process between incisor and molar processes); telson fused to pleonite 6; eggs and juveniles brooded in a brood pouch formed of oostegites, plates attached to the inside of coxae of some pereopods.
Females: Anterior half of crest of carapace cut into nine or more small teeth, carapace twice as long as deep, with dorsal teeth inconspicuous; antennal notch narrow; ocular lobe projecting well beyond pseudorostral lobes and with corneal lenses not confined to anterior portion.
Males: Body slender, carapace more than twice as long as deep. Main corneal lenses large and conspicuous; dorsal edge of pereonite 2 barely sinuate. Exopod of fourth pereopod less that half as long as basis and with flagellum two-jointed.

Source: Hale, H.M. (1944) Australian Cumacea No. 8 The family Bodotriidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 68, 225-285.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Subclass:
Eumalacostraca
Superorder:
Peracarida
Order:
Cumacea
Family:
Bodotriidae
Genus:
Glyphocuma
Species:
bakeri

General Description

Swollen carapace covering head and some of the thorax. The legs of the thorax are short and several help in feeding. Between a pair of lobes of the carapace are several minute eyes. The abdomen is a cylindrical sequence of segments ending in a fork-like tail. Telson fused to pleonite 6.

Biology

Cumaceans burrow into the surface of sandy and muddy sediments but can also be found in the sediment trapped among macroalgae. At night especially cumaceans can be active swimmers in the open water and this is probably where mating occurs. Food is obtained by filtering water just above the sediment and grazing on the surface of sand grains. Cumaceans can be dug out of sandy sediment but the most effective way of catching them is by attracting them to lights at night.

Habitat

Among macroalgae in sandy sediments, to depth of 23 m.

Soft substrates

Distribution guide

Southern temperate oceans, including western and southern Australia.

Species Group

Microcrustaceans › Cumaceans

Depth

Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

8 mm

Diet

Organic matter

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 78

Conservation Status

  • DSE Advisory List : Not listed
  • EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
  • IUCN Red List : Not listed

Author

article author Taylor, J.

Dr. Jo Taylor is the Sciences Collections Online Coordinator at Museum Victoria.

Author

article author Poore, G.C.B.

Dr. Gary Poore is Principal Curator Emeritus at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Taylor, J. & Poore, G.C.B., 2011, Comma Shrimp, Glyphocuma bakeri, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 25 Feb 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5281

Text: creative commons cc by licence