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Shrimp, Northern Snapping

Scientific name:

Alpheus richardsoni

Maori name:

Other names:

Shrimp, Nymph Snapping
Shrimp, Snapping

Category:

Invertebrate

Phylum:

Arthropoda

Class:

Malacostraca

Family:

Alpheoidea

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Common habitat(s):

Sandy/Muddy Shore Intertidal

Other information:

Feeding:

Scavenger

Distribution:

Southern Hemisphere

Edibility:

Unknown Edibility

Size:

Hand Sized

Identification:

The body is transluscent, the rear part of the back has 2 broad bands of greenish brown. One nipper is larger than the other and both are greenish brown, especially on the tips, underside is colourless.

Habitat:

It lives in estuaries and mangrove swamps, to 24 m depth. It has elaborate self-made burrows up to 30 cm deep.

Diet:

Feeds on organic detritus.

Lifestyle:

In Japan (where it has been introduced from NZ) this shrimp shares its burrows with a small gobie (fish), in NZ it does not.

Notes:

References:

Miya, Y. 1995. Four Species of Alpheus from Intertidal and Shallow Water Mudflats in the Sea of Araike, Kyushu, Japan (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae). Bull. Fac. Liberal Arts, Nagasaki Univ. 35 (Spec Iss) p 271-288.