Hawaii shrimps

hawaiisfishes.com

Some interesting shrimps not in Hawaii's Sea Creatures
(Unofficial?) Bishop Museum lists of Hawaiian shrimps:

stenopodids (boxer shrimps)
caridean shrimps (most reef shrimps)
penaeid shrimps (many sand-dwelling shrimps)
stomatopods (mantis shrimps)

STARRY CLEANER SHRIMP
Lysmata acicula? (Rathbun, 1906)
A photo of this shrimp appears in Hawaii's Sea Creatures on p. 235 but is incorrectly identified as the Indo-Pacific Lysmata ternatensis. It recently came to my attention that the real L. ternatensis is striped, not spotted. (see photo here) Obviously, then, this is something else. I sent the photos to Dr. Sammy de Grave of Oxford University, who thinks that it is probably a species originally described by zoologist Mary Jane Rathbun in 1906 from 4 specimens found under a tugboat in Honolulu and one specimen dredged off Kauai. Rathbun named her shrimp Hippolysmata acicula. Unfortunately, as was typical in those days, she did not note the color of the live animal. In 1997 Rathbun's specimens were examined by zoologist Fenner Chace of the Smithsonian, who declared that H. acicula was the same as Lysmata ternatensis, a species from Indonesia that had been described and named several years earlier, in 1902. However, the museum specimens Chace examined were bleached and devoid of color. Now that photos of the living animals are available, it's clear that the species pictured here and in my book is not ternatensis. However, to prove that these Hawaiian ones are indeed Rathbun's acicula (or possibly something else), several need to be collected, photographed, and examined. Unfortunately, they are very rarely seen. If you find these shrimps anywhere, please let me know. Specimens needed! (Thanks to Dennis McCrea and Debra Newbery for finding this pair and showing them to me! Debra has taken some terrific video of these shrimp interacting with a banded coral shrimp, Stenopus hispidus, and an unidentified portunid crab. http://tinyurl.com/284l8p9 )

Update: In December 2010 Dennis McCrea found and collected two of these rare animals and sent them to Dr. de Grave, who is in the process of determing whether they are Rathbun's acicula or a new species.

UNIDENTIFIED
Metapenaeus? sp.
Paul Okumura took this photo of a sand-dwelling shrimp in Kona off "Mile Marker Four" on Alii Drive at a depth of about 40 feet. I sent the photo to Dr. Tin-Yam Chan in Taiwan, who answered:

Your penaeid photo does not show much as the shrimp is burying in sand. I am sorry that I can not identify it positively, though it is likely a Metapenaeus judging from coloration (there are many species in Metapenaeus and their coloration are very similar). But juvenile of Penaeus s.l. and some Metapenaeopsis sometimes also with this green body and dotted coloration.

The Bishop Museum records only one species in the genus Metapenaeus as occurring in Hawaii: Metapenaeus affinis. So that is one possibility. I was impressed by the blue-green coloration, as sand-dwelling shrimps of this sort that I have seen before have all been reddish. However, shrimps that are reddish at night are sometimes bluish or greenish by day, and Paul took this photo in the late morning.

EYESPOT SHRIMP
Saron neglectus De Man, 1902
Subfamily Hyppolytidae
A photo of this shrimp appears in Hawaii's Sea Creatures on p. 233, photographed out of its natural habitat but clearly showing the two dark "eyespots" on the upper rear of its carapace. The photos above show the shrimp as it appears in its natural habitat, with eyespots out of sight or barely visible (as on the shrimp in the bottom photo).
According to Japanese shrimp expert, Dr. Junji Okuno, an almost identical Saron shrimp that lacks false eyespots has also been identified as Saron neglectus. That shrimp is widespread in the Indo-Pacific, but absent from Hawaii. If the "eyeless" shrimp turns out to be the true neglectus, then the species pictured above could be un-named. The uncertainty is probably due to the original neglectus having been described from colorless museum specimens. Dr. Okuno has compared the two and has found no significant differences except for the color pattern.

PEARL OYSTER SHRIMP
Conchodytes meleagrinae Peters, 1852
Shine your dive light into a Blacklipped Pearl Oyster, and quickly, before it closes its valves, you just might catch a glimpse of one of these fat little commensal shrimps. They live inside these oysters, probably never leaving their host. Although I mentioned this shrimp in my book in the pearl oyster writeup, I misspelled the scientific name as Conchodytes meleagris. (This has been corrected in the latest printing.) The American Fisheries Society has given it the official common name "Hawaiian pearloyster shrimp," which makes little sense because the species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific. David Fleetham grabbed this rare photo off Kaanapali, Maui, at a depth of 40 ft. Visit Dave's website at http://davidfleetham.com/

BARRED WIRE CORAL SHRIMP
Pontonides ankeri Marin, 2007
It's official - the Barred Wire Coral Shrimp, previously "Pontonides sp. 1" in my book, has a new scientific name. Russian zoologist Ivan Marin described P. ankeri in 2007 from a number of Indo-Pacific specimens, but he lacked Hawaiian material to examine. The identity of the Hawaiian shrimp was thus left in doubt. In February 2010 I sent him a specimen from South Point, Hawai`i and he confirmed that it is the same species. The name ankeri honors his friend and colleague, Arthur Anker, who specializes in snapping shrimps. I have added the new name to the revised April 2010 printing of Hawaii's Sea Creatures.

STARRY CORAL SHRIMP
Harpiliopsis beaupressi (Audouin, 1825)
Subfamily Pontoniinae
I found several of these in a head of Cauliflower Coral (Pocillopora meandrina) at Ho`okena, Hawai`i at a depth of about 20 ft. They were difficult to photograph as they kept moving out of sight around the coral, and this is the best I could do. I had never seen the species before, and have not found it since. The shrimp has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, from Africa to Easter Island, and always associates with branching corals (Pocillopora, Seriatopora, Stylophora, rarely Acropora).

FLATTENED CORAL SHRIMP
Harpiliopsis depressa (Stimpson 1860)
Subfamily Pontoniinae
Actually, this shrimp appears in Hawaii's Sea Creatures on p. 223, but this is a much better photo. It lives in Cauliflower Coral (Pocillopora meandrina). The photo was taken at Ho`okena, Hawai`i at a depth of about 35 ft. (I have added this photo to the revised April 2010 printing of Hawaii's Sea Creatures.)

Urocaridella sp.
Subfamily Palaemoninae
According to Dr. Junji Okuno, an expert on shrimps of the genus Urocaridella, this species has not yet been named or described. It occurs from Hawai`i to the Western Indian Ocean and is similar in appearance and habits to the Clear Cleaner Shrimp Urocaridella antonbrunii on p 222. of Hawaii's Sea Creatures. I photographed it during the summer of 2005 at Makua, O`ahu, at a depth of about 45 ft. The eel is a Yellowmargin Moray, Gymnothorax flavimarginatus. (I have added this photo to the revised April 2010 printing of Hawaii's Sea Creatures.)

Exocliminella maldivensis Duris & Bruce, 1995.
Subfamily Palaemoninae
Mike Roberts photographed this beautiful little shrimp off Maui, at a depth of about 40 ft.. The ID was confirmed by Dr. Junji Okuno in Japan. Mike's photo is the first I know of from Hawai`i, though the shrimp appears to occur throughout much of the tropical Indo-Pacific. Mike says that the bright colors, esp. the blue, help him find these shrimps, which are very secretive and live in rubble. The first Hawaiian record of this species was made by researchers from the Bishop Museum, who collected it on the Atlantis wreck off Waikiki in 2001.

Cuapetes grandis ? (Stimpson, 1860)
Subfamily Palaemoninae
Katie Samuelson photographed this shrimp at Pupukea, O`ahu, (Sharks Cove) at 15 ft. I subsequently collected a specimen that looked much like it and sent it to Dr. Alexander Bruce, at the Queensland Museum. He identified my specimen as Cuapetes grandis (formerly Kemponia grandis or Periclimenes grandis), which has been recorded from Hawaii a number of times. However, the shrimp in Katie's photos could also be C. elegans (also recorded from Hawaii). Dr. Bruce would have to examine a specimen to be sure. Mike Roberts photographed what appears to be the same species at Ulua Beach, Maui, (see below). The white line between the eyes is distinctive of this group.