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Pink shrimp are found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and along the east shore of North and South America, from Brazil to North Carolina. They occupy both near shore (including estuaries and shallow bays) and offshore habitats.
Description:
The pink shrimp is a fairly large species: males commonly reach 7 inches total length and females reach 9 inches. The color and pigmentation varies with locality and age, ranging from red to deep pink to gray to nearly white. An abdominal spot (gray, blue, purple, red, or brown) is usually present between the third and fourth abdominal segments.
Habits and Adaptations:
Activity patterns of pink shrimp suggest a circadian rhythm (a daily activity pattern based on a 24-hour cycle). They will often burrow during the day and are more active at night. Lunar phase and tides also influence their activity patterns.
Diet:
Pink shrimp are omnivorous, benthic (feeding on the bottom) scavengers. They will consume other crustaceans, small fish, mollusks, polychaete and annelid worms, eggs, seagrass, algae, and detritus (marine debris). They are a major prey species for a wide variety of fish, wading birds, seabirds, dolphins and other cetaceans, and sea turtles.
Breeding:
The life cycle of shrimp is fairly complex, consisting of several life stages. Pink shrimp spawn throughout the year, but larvae are more abundant during spring, summer and fall than during winter, suggesting a seasonal component to reproduction. In the Tortugas (islands off the southern tip of Florida), reproduction appears to be tied to the phase of the moon, with spawning occurring during the last phase of the lunar month.
Adults spawn offshore and the fertilized eggs sink to the bottom. The larva progresses through several developmental stages (nauplius, zoea, and mysis), drifting with the currents as part of the plankton community. The postlarva enters the estuarine nursery grounds (the Florida Everglades are particularly important for this species) and settles on the bottom substrate when it is about one half inch long. The postlarva grows into an adult and spends the next two to six months in the nursery area before it migrates offshore.
Conservation:
The pink shrimp fishery is the most economically important of all fisheries in Florida, comprising over 25 percent of the total dollar value derived from Florida’s commercial fisheries. Because they occupy several different habitats and serve as both predator and prey for a diverse suite of marine organisms, pink shrimp are also a critically important link in the marine food web. A decline in the pink shrimp population due to over-harvesting would likely have a negative impact on predatory species, thus altering the balance of the ecosystem.
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