PORT PHILLIP BAY


Furrowed Snapping Shrimp 

Alpheus sulcatus Kingsley, 1878

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Rostrum well developed and continued posteriorly as carina. Rostrum 1-2 times as long as wide at base, bearing stiff setae laterally, free section shorter than orbitorostral grooves which are overhung by base of rostrum and sharply delimited from orbital hoods; orbital hoods without teeth; rostrum-hood margins transverse. 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. Large chela laterally compressed; lower margin slightly concave, irregular proximally; upper margin with longitudinal ridge and tubercles; without lateral and mesial teeth near dactylar articulation; with numerous scattered setae. Small chela not of balaeniceps form. Pereopod 2 with first carpal segment slightly longer than second. Smaller cheliped with fingers simple. Pereopods 1-4 with epipods. Pleuron of abdominal somite 6 without an articulating posterior triangular plate.

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:
sulcatus

General Description

Rostrum 1-2 times as long as wide at base, bearing stiff setae laterally, free section shorter than orbitorostral grooves which are overhung by base of rostrum and sharply delimited from orbital hoods; orbital hoods without teeth; rostrum-hood margins transverse. Large claw (chela) laterally compressed; lower margin slightly concave, irregular proximally; upper margin with longitudinal ridge and tubercles; without lateral and mesial teeth near dactylar articulation; with numerous scattered setae. Small claw (chela) not of balaeniceps form. Secong leg (pereopod 2) with first carpal segment slightly longer than second. Green, up to 6 cm long.

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.

Habitat

Intertidal to depths of 24 m.

Reefs

Soft substrates

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Indo-west Pacific, eastern Pacific, eastern Atlantic, including southern Australia.

Species Group

Prawns, shrimps, lobsters › Shrimps

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

6 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, Furrowed Snapping Shrimp, Alpheus sulcatus, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 09 Oct 2024, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5507

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