PORT PHILLIP BAY


Slender-beaked Shrimp 

Chlorotocella spinicaudus (Milne Edwards, 1837)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Rostrum long and slender mostly unarmed or with few, feeble teeth on dorsal and ventral margins. Carapace with supraorbital spine. Maxilliped 2 with terminal article nearly as long as wide; maxilliped 3 without exopod. Pereopods lacking epipods and arthrobranchs. Pereopods 2 subequal and similar, carpus with 3 articles. Abdomen with posterodorsal tooth on somite 6.

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:
Pandalidae
Genus:
Chlorotocella
Species:
spinicaudus

General Description

Second legs (pereopods 2) subequal and similar, fifth segment (carpus) with 3 articles. Legs (pereopods) lacking epipods and gills (arthrobranchs). Abdominal somite 3 strongly curved so remainder of abdomen directed downwards, not swollen dorsally. Up to 2.5 cm long.

Biology

Unlike other southern Australian members of the family Pandalidae that are large oceanic midwater shrimp, the Slender-beaked Shrimp are benthic on the shelf or coastal algal dwellers. The shrimp is semitransparent but spotted. Its only claws, on the second pair of legs, are microscopic. This common delicate, semitransparent species was figured in 1927 as Parapandalus leptorhynchus.

Habitat

Benthic and shallow subtidal between 3-115 m depth.

Soft substrates

Seagrass meadows

Distribution guide

Southern temperate oceans, including southern Australia.

Species Group

Prawns, shrimps, lobsters › Shrimps

Depth

Shallow (1-30 m)
Deep ( > 30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

25 mm

Diet

Organic matter

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 995

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, Slender-beaked Shrimp, Chlorotocella spinicaudus, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 30 Apr 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5520

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