Description

This is a medium-sized heavily built shrimp that is well camouflaged by its speckled appearance. 

Carapace: The carapace is a pale grey with a pattern of dark chocolate brown blotches and speckles across the dorsum. The sides of the carapace are plain with a series of scattered chocolate spots. There is a thin dark band through the eyes. 

The lateral aspect of the carapace is grey with darker chocolate brown markings and extensions of the dorsal markings making broken diagonal bands in the upper half. 

The abdominal segments are pale grey with chocolate brown blotches. The dorsum of each segment is more strongly marked centrally with the pattern becoming spotted laterally. 

The side view of the abdomen has little pattern. It is pale grey with variable chocolate chip patches and fine speckles in dark brown. A line of bushy setae runs laterally from the carapace to the tail. This is more visible from some angles than others. 

The rostrum is grey with dark grey speckling. The antennae and antennules are grey. 

The pincers are pale grey with three chocolate brown speckled bands. The chelate second legs are grey with white joints. The walking legs are pale grey with distinct red-brown bands on either side of the white joints. The appendages may have setae, becoming denser distally. Some individuals are extremely hairy with the hairs obscuring the outline of the shrimp. 

The tail fan has dark grey scutes with pale centres, usually obscured by dense setae. 

Identifying Features 

The large ‘chocolate chip’ markings are distinctive as are the extensive setae (hairs). 

Similar Shrimps

The Tasselled Shrimp has a plain dorsum to the carapace, unlike this shrimp with its distinctive pattern. The lateral aspect of the abdomen has tassels in both species but has distinctive markings in the Tasselled Shrimp. They occupy different habitats. 

The Freckled shrimp is a much smaller species and has a freckled, rather than blotchy pattern on the carapace and abdomen. It lacks the well-defined banding on the legs and pincers. The primary distinction between the two lies in the preferred habitat and shrimpgoby associations. 

The Longbody Shrimp is also much smaller and is readily separated by its distinctive build and markings. 

The Strong Shrimp is larger and stockier with a more banded pattern on the carapace. It lives in a similar habitat. 

Nomenclature

Undescribed species, we have found no records apart from ours from Australia and the Solomon Islands.