Length: 1.6-2.5mm. Body slender, smooth without spines, head + pereonite 1 fused. Antenna 1 a little longer than pereonite 1 + 2 together; antenna 2 slightly shorter than antenna 1, without setae. Gnathopod 2 attached medianly on pereonite 2, propodus more than twice as long as broad, palm convex, with proximal projection, grasping spines and sub spine. Pereopods 3 + 4 absent. Pereopod 5 rudimentary, 4-segmented. Gills very small (on pereonites 3 + 4). Pereopods 6 + 7 long and slender, propodus with setae.
Gulf of Thailand; Japan
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.
20-50m
