Skeleton Shrimp

Caprella spp.

Skeleton shrimp are tiny, gangly amphipods with thread-like bodies that:

• Are usually transparent, but can sometimes be tan, brownish or reddish in color.
• Have free front legs that are folded together, much like a praying mantis's.
• Have hooked, grasping rear legs.
• Grow to about one-half of an inch to 2 inches long.

Where do skeleton shrimp live?

Skeleton shrimp can be found in the middle to lower Bay, attached to hydroids, sponges, bryozoans and other animals that live on rocks, buoys and pilings.

What do skeleton shrimp eat?

Skeleton shrimps feed on copepods and bits of algae and detritus, which they grab with their free front legs.

How do skeleton shrimp reproduce?

Skeleton shrimps reproduce sexually by internal fertilization. Large, transparent pouches of eggs attach to the female's abdomen. After hatching, skeleton shrimp larvae attach to hydroids, algae or other vegetation.

Females of some skeleton shrimp species are said to kill males after mating by injecting them with venom from a poisonous claw.

Other facts about skeleton shrimp:

• Skeleton shrimp move similarly to inchworms.
• Skeleton shrimps' delicate, skeleton-like bodies help them blend in with hydroids, bryozoans, seaweeds and other bushy plants and animals.