Length: 4.9-18mm. Body smooth to quite spiny. Head with 1 pair small spines (median and not anteriorly directed), 1 pair on posterior end of cephalon; pereonite 2: 1 pair dorsal to gnathopod 2 and 1 pair posterior; pereonite 3 with 1 pair antero-lateral spines; pereonites 3 + 4 with 1 pair median and several posterior spines; pereonite 5 with 2 pairs of spines; 1 pair of spines on pereonites 6 + 7. Antenna 1 with setose peduncle; antenna 2 shorter than, or subequal to perduncle of antenna 1. Gnathopod 1 propodus with one pair proximal grasping spines; grasping margin of dactylus and propodus serrate. Gnathopod 2 propodus bearing 3 projections, the middle being the most pronounced. Gills elliptical. Pereopods 5 - 7 palm not delineated, grasping spines absent, few palmar setae. Female spination reduced.
New Jersey; Newfoundland;
Caprellid, "Ghost" or "Skeleton" shrimps, so called for their skeletal appearance. Amphipod crustaceans, easily distinguished by the elongate stick-like body form and reduction of the abdominal appendages. Head is generally fused with pereonite 1. Pereopods on first 2 segments (pereonites) are most flexible and called gnathopods; gnathopods 2 being the largest, used in defense, feeding and substrate attachment. In many species pereopods 3 and 4 may also be reduced or absent. Gills on pereonites 3 + 4, rarely on pereonite 2. Pereopods 5 - 7 much smaller than 1 + 2, used for clinging to the substratum. In females, brood plates (öostegites) develop on pereonites 3 + 4. Much remains to be learnt about their biology, ecology and in many cases changing distributions.
Intertidal
Patton (1968) describes C. unica to be an obligate commensal with starfish Asterias spp. Gnathopod 2 similar to C. linearis, but basis shorter and heavier. Also differs in having more robust body and appendages, absence of grasping spines on pereopods.
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC: (NMNH) 305797-8; (NMNH) 1110829 (labeled C. grahami); (NMNH) 34743; USFC 1879 Loc.321 (labeled C. grahami); (NMNH) 34676; Off Cape Cod; USFC 187- (labeled C. grahami)
Caprella unica is a species of skeleton shrimp in the genus Caprella within the family Caprellidae.[1][2][3] The larvae are plankton-like. They are relatively small, with two large and two small antennae. They only live in the sea (salt water), and are widely found in Cape Cod, Maine and Newfoundland.
The species was discovered during the Siboga expedition to the northern Pacific. It can be around 5–18 mm long. It lives as a parasite on starfish.
The species placement has recently been described and updated in 2003.[4] The species' modern affiliation in the genus of Caprella is given in the light of the 2013 revision based on the WoRMS database. [5]
Caprella unica is a species of skeleton shrimp in the genus Caprella within the family Caprellidae. The larvae are plankton-like. They are relatively small, with two large and two small antennae. They only live in the sea (salt water), and are widely found in Cape Cod, Maine and Newfoundland.
The species was discovered during the Siboga expedition to the northern Pacific. It can be around 5–18 mm long. It lives as a parasite on starfish.
