Metapenaeopsis goodei
Size
To 2.1 cm
Description:
Eyes blueish, often with yellow anulus and dark spot superiorly. Body has somewhat variable colouration, generally with reddish head markings and varying degree of reddish lateral patches on pale/ transparent abdomen, which may have scattered white spots. Walking legs and chelipeds pale.Telson transparent or faint white. Red/ white "barber pole" line marking often seen running through dorsal abdomen, especially anteriorly.
Ecology
Benthic sand dwelling shrimps, though will forage at night onto nearby structure. Primarily nocturnal emerging to feed on detritus, bacterial colonies and filamentous blue-green algae, together with the associated fauna of protozoans, harpacticoid copepods and nematodes and other opportunistic food sources e.g. carrion. Algae reportedly ingested by juveniles of the Family.
Recorded as found from 0-340m (1-1,000ft). However, juveniles tend to develop in shallower water until they reach maturity and then migrate into the deeper adult habitats.
Juvenile males have a relatively larger rostrum than females and gain weight faster, but do not reach the final length of adult females.
Life Cycle:
Gonochoric (fixed sex) with adult females slightly larger than males (1.9 vs 2.1 cm). Precopulatory courtship ritual using olfactory and tactile cues. Indirect sperm transfer.
| Ecological Descriptors | ||||
| Habitat | Size (cm) | Diet | Behaviour | Sex |
| S | 2 | Det, Omn | I | F |
Caribbean Velvet Shrimp
Synonyms:
Velvet Shrimp
Velvet Shrimp
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