| |
Upogebia pugettensis (Blue mud shrimp)
Copyright ©
2006 Mary Jo Adams
This
species lives in U or Y shaped burrows in mud or muddy sand .
Upogebia somewhat
resemble ghost shrimp ( Neotrypaea californiensis ) in
general form but are gray, brown, white, or bluish in color, have
claws of nearly equal size, and hair is present on the rostrum,
legs, and claws. They are sometimes found on the same beaches
as ghost shrimp but their burrows do not have the little volcano
shaped mounds at the entrances that is characteristic of Neotrypaea
. The blue mud shrimp may have a have a pair of parasitic
isopods ( Phyllodurus abdominalis ) or a commensal crab
(Orobitella rugifera) adhered to it. This species, which
reaches a maximum length of about 6 inches, feeds on plankton and
detritus. Look for it in the middle and low intertidal zones.
This page was created by Mary Jo Adams on 1/18/06.
|
|
Additional
information on this species may be found as follows:
Pacific
Coast Crabs and Shrimps, Gregory C. Jensen, Sea Challengers,
1995.
Seashore
Life of the Northern Pacific Coast, Eugene N. Kozloff, University
of Washington Press, 1993.
|
|
