What a cool shrimp! Such amazing camouflage, matching all of the colors in the sand grains -- white, brown, gray, black, green, and orange. Meet Crangon handi! [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
The eyes of the shrimp are on the right side (two rounded brownish eyes); the body tapers back to the left; and the tail is on the far left side (look for two narrow white bands above the larger white sand grain). [I'm calling it sand (≤2 mm), but it's possible it should be called gravel (≥3 mm).]
This species is known to inhabit gravelly tidepools, and lucky for us, one of the UC Davis Bio Boot Camp instructors spotted it this morning. Thanks, Kaitai!
P.S. If the species name sounds familiar, it's true this species was named in honor of Professor Cadet Hand, first director of the Bodega Marine Laboratory.
1 comment:
I was a t.a. with Dr Ralph Smith of Lights Manual fame when we discovered the shrimp at Shell Beach on a summer invertebrate zoology field trip. It was subsequently named after Dr. Cadet Hand by Armand Kuris and James Carlton. Such a beautiful shrimp. There is an isopod with the same color pattern. Where was it found? I can not believe that was over 50 years ago.
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