PORT PHILLIP BAY


Daisy Snapping Shrimp 

Alpheus cf. gracilipes Stimpson, 1861

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Pereopods 1-4 with epipods. Pleuron of abdominal somite 6 without an articulating posterior triangular plate. Rostrum well developed and continued posteriorly as carina. Carapace covering eyes completely in dorsal and lateral views, often with orbital processes; usually grooves between orbital hoods and rostral carina. Orbitorostral process usually present. Pterygostomial angle not produced. Chelipeds markedly asymmetrical, larger one swollen, carried extended, dactylus with plunger fitting into socket at base of fixed finger. Smaller cheliped with fingers simple.

Source: Poore, G.C.B. (2004) Marine decapod Crustacea of southern Australia. A guide to identification (with chapter on Stomatopoda by Shane Ahyong). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 574 pp.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Subclass:
Eumalacostraca
Superorder:
Eucarida
Order:
Decapoda
Suborder:
Pleocyemata
Infraorder:
Caridea
Family:
Alpheidae
Genus:
Alpheus
Species:
cf. gracilipes

General Description

Body chocolate to chestnut brown in color, carapace with irregular whitish patches, abdomen with narrow whitish longitudinal stripes; major chela dark orange to brown with distal portions whitish. Carapace length up to 1 cm.

Biology

Snapping shrimps or pistol shrimps are immediately distinguished from other families by having one claw much larger than the other, the larger claw cylindrical and with a parrot-beak-like finger. The snapping apparatus on the claw involves a piston at the base of the moveable finger that fits into a cavity of the fixed finger. When clicked closed by the strong muscles in the palm, a sudden jet of water is expelled to stun its prey, such as crabs and fishes. A sharp click is heard at the same time and may even be audible to us when walking over mudflats where the shrimps can be common.

Habitat

In heads of dead coral, intertidal pools, depths to 6 m.

Reefs

Soft substrates

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Indo-west central Pacific Oceans (East Africa to Ryukyu Islands, east to Hawai'i) including south-eastern and south-western Australia.

Species Group

Prawns, shrimps, lobsters › Shrimps

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

1 cm

Diet

Organic matter

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Recorded in Australia

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, Daisy Snapping Shrimp, Alpheus cf. gracilipes, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 25 Feb 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5504

Text: creative commons cc by licence