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Skeleton shrimps are a group of arthropods belonging to the Class Crustacea, which includes not only lobsters and crabs but also beach fleas, sea roaches, barnacles and isopods.
Crustaceans reproduce sexually, with internal fertilization, and the eggs attach to the female’s abdomen. After hatching, the larvae attach to hydroids, algae or other vegetation. Like some terrestrial arthropods, females of some species of skeleton shrimp are said to kill the males after mating, using venom injected by a poisonous claw. Skeleton shrimps are members of the family Caprellidae (although the species native to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast, the long-horn skeleton shrimp, carries a different classification and belongs to the genera Aeginella). Skeleton shrimp is a common name referring to a group of several species of crustaceans that live among seaweed beds and sponges. Their name refers to their threadlike, angular, delicate appearance, which allows them virtually to disappear among the fine filaments of seaweed and other small organisms. They resemble terrestrial stick insects in that they can remain motionless for long periods while waiting to ambush their prey, often protozoa or small worms. Their long grasping claws and long appendages enable them to move easily up and down the stems of various submerged plants. They have forelimbs called gnathopods, which they hold in similar attitude to those of a preying mantis.
The skeleton shrimp common the mid-Atlantic region and the Chesapeake Bay is Aeginella longicornis, the long-horn skeleton shrimp, which also is the largest skeleton shrimp found in American Atlantic waters. This species reaches a mature length of 2 1/8 inches, and 1/16 of an inch wide. Like most skeleton shrimp it can appear translucent, but sometimes is tan or reddish in color. The head is short and spiny; the first pair of antennae extends to two-thirds of its body length, and the second pair is shorter. The small eyes are round, and two to three teeth appear on the large second thoracic appendix. They have one long claw, a pair of saclike gills, and on the last three segments there are pairs of appendages facing backwards. Like other species, the long-horn skeleton shrimp adopts the protective coloration of the seaweed or sponges that it lives among, and also will hold an angular posture similar to the plants that mask it, making it nearly invisible to predators and prey. The long-horn inhabits eelgrass beds, or can be found on hydroids or sponges, to great depth—from the low-tide line to waters nearly 7,450 feet (2,271 meters) deep, from Labrador to California. Another species, the smooth skeleton shrimp, Caprella laeviuscula, reaches a length of about 3.5 cm and is colored a transparent pale brown, green or rose. Like its cousin its body is delicate, long and thin, though this species appears smooth. The smooth skeleton shrimp feeds omnivorously, consuming small invertebrates, single-celled organisms or detritus, and being consumed by other species of shrimp, finfish and sea anemones. In Pacific waters, the California skeleton shrimp also favors eelgrass beds, usually along the southern and central California coasts. This species reaches a mature length of about 1.5 inches.
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