New Shrimp Species Now Officially Named.
First spotted on Roatan in 2009 during the compilation of Caribbean Reef Life, this tiny shrimp lives exclusively on the rare Swimming Crinoid (Analcidometra armata). It is well camouflaged on it's host, with it's distinctive red markings lining up with those of the crinoid almost perfectly.
Photos were sent to Dr Sammy DeGrave of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, a leading expert in the taxonomy of shrimp species. He was able to narrow down the possible genus to Periclimenes, a highly diverse group of shrimp, but Dr DeGrave was unable to identify it further than that from just the photographs.
So in 2010 specimens were collected, preserved in ethanol and sent off to England. As luck would have it, the specimens turned out to be one male and one female, and the painstaking task of microscopic examination and comparison began. It was found to be a new species to science, and the results were published by Dr DeGrave in a 2014 edition of the taxonomic journal Zootaxa.
(Click here to download the PDF)
Common names for it are the Swimming Crinoid Shrimp or the Red and White Crinoid Shrimp. Officially it has been named Periclimenes rincewindi, after a character in Sir Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series. Rincewind is a cowardly wizard, always trying to hide from trouble.
Photos were sent to Dr Sammy DeGrave of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, a leading expert in the taxonomy of shrimp species. He was able to narrow down the possible genus to Periclimenes, a highly diverse group of shrimp, but Dr DeGrave was unable to identify it further than that from just the photographs.
So in 2010 specimens were collected, preserved in ethanol and sent off to England. As luck would have it, the specimens turned out to be one male and one female, and the painstaking task of microscopic examination and comparison began. It was found to be a new species to science, and the results were published by Dr DeGrave in a 2014 edition of the taxonomic journal Zootaxa.
(Click here to download the PDF)
Common names for it are the Swimming Crinoid Shrimp or the Red and White Crinoid Shrimp. Officially it has been named Periclimenes rincewindi, after a character in Sir Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series. Rincewind is a cowardly wizard, always trying to hide from trouble.