Pandalus montagui
Encyclopedia
Pandalus montagui is a species
of cold water shrimp
in the family
Pandalidae
. It is the type species
in the genus Pandalus
and is variously known as the pink shrimp, Aesop shrimp and Aesop prawn.
s and there are also a few short red streaks running obliquely on the carapace
. The rostrum
is long, up-curved and divided at the tip with 10–12 teeth on its posterior dorsal edge. There is a spine under the eye on the carapace. The first antenna divides into two parts and the second is very long, exceeding the length of the body and being banded in pale and dark brown. This shrimp can be distinguished from the rather similar Pandalus tridens by having a shorter rostrum and longer dactyls (claws) on the third and fourth pereopods (walking limbs).
distribution. Its range extends from Greenland
and Iceland
, the Arctic Ocean
and northern Atlantic Ocean
, south to Rhode Island
and the British Isles
. It prefers hard substrates but can be found on rock, gravel, sand and mud. It is most common at depths between 20 metres (65.6 ft) and 100 m (328.1 ft) but sometimes occurs near low water mark or at depths down to 700 m (2,296.6 ft).
s such as copepod
s, hydroid
s and polychaete
worms. Off the Labrador
coast there was found to be a large daily vertical migration
with the shrimp being benthic in the daytime and pelagic at night.
Most individuals start life as males but change sex to females at 12–15 months. In the North Sea
, off Britain, each female lays 2000–3000 eggs
in November. When fertilised, she carries these around for a few days on her pereopods. They then hatch and go through 6 zoeal and 2–5 decapod plankton
ic larval stages before undergoing metamorphosis
and settling as juveniles. The rate of development of the larvae
depends on the water temperature. In the more temperate parts of the range the shrimps mature within a year.
. The worm sometimes forms cold water reefs and these are an important source of food for the shrimp. Fisherman have used this fact by identifying the locations of reefs and then trawling for shrimps nearby.
Pandalus montagui is sometimes found to be parasitized by the bopyrid
isopod
, Hemiarthrus abdominalis. This isopod also parasitizes several other species of shrimp but has never been found on Pandalus borealis
.
, Denmark
the Faröe Islands
, Holland, Iceland
, Norway
and Sweden
.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of cold water shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Pandalidae
Pandalidae
The family Pandalidae is a taxon of Caridean shrimp. These species are commonly called pandalid shrimps. They are edible and have high economic value. They are characterized by the subdivided carpus of the second pereiopod and, mainly, by the lack of the chelae of the first pereiopod...
. It is the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
in the genus Pandalus
Pandalus
Pandalus is a genus of shrimps in the family Pandalidae. Members of the genus are medium sized and live on or near the seabed. Some species are the subject of commercial fisheries and are caught by trawling...
and is variously known as the pink shrimp, Aesop shrimp and Aesop prawn.
Description
Pandalus montagui is a translucent, pinkish shrimp, generally growing to about 5 centimetres (2 in) long. The colour is due to a number of red chromatophoreChromatophore
Chromatophores are pigment-containing and light-reflecting cells found in amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans, and cephalopods. They are largely responsible for generating skin and eye colour in cold-blooded animals and are generated in the neural crest during embryonic development...
s and there are also a few short red streaks running obliquely on the carapace
Carapace
A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
. The rostrum
Rostrum (anatomy)
The term rostrum is used for a number of unrelated structures in different groups of animals:*In crustaceans, the rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes....
is long, up-curved and divided at the tip with 10–12 teeth on its posterior dorsal edge. There is a spine under the eye on the carapace. The first antenna divides into two parts and the second is very long, exceeding the length of the body and being banded in pale and dark brown. This shrimp can be distinguished from the rather similar Pandalus tridens by having a shorter rostrum and longer dactyls (claws) on the third and fourth pereopods (walking limbs).
Distribution and habitat
Pandalus montagui has a boreo-arcticBoreal ecosystem
The term boreal is usually applied to ecosystems localized in subarctic and subantarctic zones, although Austral is also used for the latter....
distribution. Its range extends from Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
and northern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, south to Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. It prefers hard substrates but can be found on rock, gravel, sand and mud. It is most common at depths between 20 metres (65.6 ft) and 100 m (328.1 ft) but sometimes occurs near low water mark or at depths down to 700 m (2,296.6 ft).
Biology
Pandalus montagui is an omnivore, predator and scavenger. The diet consists mainly of small crustaceanCrustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s such as copepod
Copepod
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
s, hydroid
Hydroid
-Marine biology:Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish.-Botany:In mosses, hydroids form the innermost layer of the stem of long, colourless, thin walled cells of small diameter.The cells are dead and lack protoplasm.They function as water...
s and polychaete
Polychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
worms. Off the Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
coast there was found to be a large daily vertical migration
Migration
Migration, Migratory behavior, or Migratory may refer* Gene migration, a process in evolution and population genetics* Animal migration, the travelling of long distances in search of a new habitat...
with the shrimp being benthic in the daytime and pelagic at night.
Most individuals start life as males but change sex to females at 12–15 months. In the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, off Britain, each female lays 2000–3000 eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
in November. When fertilised, she carries these around for a few days on her pereopods. They then hatch and go through 6 zoeal and 2–5 decapod plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
ic larval stages before undergoing metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
and settling as juveniles. The rate of development of the larvae
Crustacean larvae
Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow...
depends on the water temperature. In the more temperate parts of the range the shrimps mature within a year.
Ecology
In the North Sea, Pandalus montagui is often found living in association with the polychaete worm Sabellaria spinulosaSabellaria spinulosa
Sabellaria spinulosa is a species of marine polychaete worm in the family Sabellariidae, commonly known as the Ross worm. It lives in a tube built of sand, gravel and pieces of shell.-Description:...
. The worm sometimes forms cold water reefs and these are an important source of food for the shrimp. Fisherman have used this fact by identifying the locations of reefs and then trawling for shrimps nearby.
Pandalus montagui is sometimes found to be parasitized by the bopyrid
Bopyridae
Bopyridae is a family of isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. Members of the family are ectoparasites of crabs and shrimps. They live in the gill cavities or on the carapace where they cause a noticeable swelling...
isopod
Isopoda
Isopods are an order of peracarid crustaceans, including familiar animals such as woodlice and pill bugs. The name Isopoda derives from the Greek roots and...
, Hemiarthrus abdominalis. This isopod also parasitizes several other species of shrimp but has never been found on Pandalus borealis
Pandalus borealis
Pandalus borealis is a species of shrimp found in cold parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Many different common names are used, including pink shrimp, deepwater prawn, deep-sea prawn, great northern prawn, and northern shrimp.-Distribution:P...
.
Fishery
Pandalus montagui is fished commercially in the United Kingdom but mostly taken as an alternative to the larger shrimp, Pandalus borealis. About 500 tons a year of Pandalus montagui were caught globally in the period 2005–2007, catches also being recorded from BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
the Faröe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Holland, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.