Carolinian Ghost Shrimp (Callianassa major) |
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| Description We have four species of mud and ghost shrimps in our area that are actually more closely related to hermit crabs than to shrimp. They have elongated bodies but are flattened top to bottom instead of side to side. They construct burrows in the sand or mud and pump water through their burrow system with pistonlike abdominal appendages. Callianassa major is the largest ghost shrimp in our area, growing to about four inches. It lives on ocean beaches and is responsible for the small holes about .25 inches across near the low tide line. The holes are often surrounded by a ring of fecal pellets, and open into wider tunnels that may extend six feet into the sand. The animals move rapidly through their burrows and are difficult to capture by digging. Fishermen who use them for bait usually use a homemade tube with a piston that can be withdrawn to create a suction that will draw the shrimp from its burrow into the tube. Callianassa major has a small, smooth rostrum and the two claws are unequal in size. The mud shrimp, Upogebia, is more robust and has two claws of equal size. Our other ghost shrimps are smaller in size and less common. [Ref. Ruppert and Fox] |
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| Complete
classification tree Family = Callianassidae Superfamily = Thalassinoidea Infraorder = Astacidea Suborder = Pleocymata Order = Decapoda Superorder = Eucarida Class = Malacostraca Subphylum = Crustacea Phylum = Arthropoda |
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| Local
habitat Along the beach where they dig burrows in the sand. |
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| Collection
method Digging up a burrow with a shovel is rarely successful. Locals use a "yabby pump" to draw the animals into a tube with suction. |
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| Links
and references Ruppert, Edward and Fox, Richard. Seashore Animals of the Southeast. University of South Carolina Press, 1988. http://coastgis.marsci.uga.edu/summit/beachanimals.htm |
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Whitney Laboratory
9505 Ocean Shore Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080
904-461-4000
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Peter
A. V. Anderson
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