💀 Field Notes: Skeleton Shrimp 🦐 (Patreon)

Our next episode on Tuesday, 10/26 is about skeleton shrimp! These thin, elongated creatures have an unusual body design, even for a crustacean. Producer Mike Seely lifted one up in the above photo –– which was fine once he placed it back into the water. Despite their diminutive, scrawny stature, they are surprisingly hardy creatures.

Up close, you can see how they have a wild collection of appendages - 18 in all. Photo credit: Florida Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology department.

Mike put on some neoprene waders and took a few buckets to Crown Beach, Alameda, to film these tiny amphipods. At low tide, he waded out about 50 feet from shore and found several shrimp clinging to eelgrass –– a type of marine seagrass –– and red algae, where they live. The local species are Caprella drepanochir and Caprella californica, and he collected samples of both for filming (with permission via a fishing permit).

They thrived in their new home for a couple of weeks, eating the small bits of plant and animal matter that were already floating around in the water, and they stayed cool in his shady backyard. No chemicals were added to the water while they were in his care, and he returned them back to the bay once he and Josh were done capturing their beauty shots.

This episode premieres next Tuesday, October 26, but Patreon supporters will get a sneak peek this Friday!

Photo credits: Mike Seely/KQED