Among the bounty of creatures living in the world’s oceans, shrimp are perhaps the most widely known marine crustacea. They are found worldwide, and they are widely incorporated into the diets of the majority of cultures in existence. They are tiny, intriguing creatures living on the bottom of the oceans and play a vital role in maintaining the sea’s ecological balance.
Physical Characteristics
Different species of shrimp can vary in the appearance of their physical characteristics. However, the decapod shrimp’s bodily characteristics are prevalent throughout the 2,000 different types currently known to exist.
Their bodies are divided into two parts: the thorax and the head. The cephalothorax and a narrow abdomen connect the two components. The body itself is protected by a hard shell known as the carapace. The mouth of the shrimp works in conjunction with its gills.
Guarded by the hard exterior shell, the gills allow it to derive oxygen from the surrounding waters. Its legs, eyes, and rostrum also grow out of its hard shell. To protect themselves from predators, shrimp possess a sharp beak or nose, called the rostrum, that extends off the head of their body. This beak also serves as a stabilizer when swimming backward and forwards in the water.
Diet
Shrimp acquire their food either by sifting through the ocean floor’s sand or filtering the surrounding waters to ingest small particles of various plant or animal species. Because they will eat both types of proteins, they are considered omnivorous. The bulk of their diet is composed of algae and plankton matter.
Shrimp poses very little threat when consuming other animals and plants. However, they are prey to a huge number of larger species, especially humans.
Social Structure
Like fish, shrimp primarily travel, breed, and eat in schools. They can easily adapt to new water conditions, accounting for their vast numbers in every ocean on earth. Because of their small size, it is advantageous for them to stay in groups to protect themselves from larger predators. Their actual size is typically between 0.1 and 2 inches in length.
Despite their stature, these creatures can still fall victim to microscopic parasites. They often develop mutually beneficial relationships with sea cucumbers or sea slugs to remove any ectoparasites. Within their schools, there is audio communication that occurs as well. Snapping and clicking are thought to play a role in how they socialize and how they intimidate other marine life.
Breeding
A single female shrimp is capable of producing a large number of offspring. One shrimp can lay up to one million eggs in a single session. The eggs take only two weeks to hatch. Once born, the baby shrimp merge with the plankton in the environment to protect and feed themselves until they are large enough to hunt in groups for larger particles for nourishment.
Many offspring are vital in allowing the species to flourish due to their short lifespan. The average shrimp will only live for one to two years.
Habitat
Being an extremely versatile species, shrimp can thrive beneath the surface of any body of water as long as there is ample food. They can survive in both freshwater and saltwater conditions. These invertebrates tend to congregate in the largest numbers near coastal regions and estuaries, where the food supply is plentiful.
The type of species present in any location is typically specific to that region and adapted for the particular surroundings. The majority of shrimp are marine creatures, while a quarter of the shrimp population is found in freshwater sources. Shrimp can survive in waters that are up to 16,000 feet deep.
Threats
As a species, shrimp are facing many threats to their survival. Overfishing by man is the primary danger they now must overcome. Their conservation status has recently been changed to threatened.
In addition to overfishing, humanity is also destroying its natural habitats through pollution, drilling, and oil spills. Their natural predators include a huge variety of marine life. Fish, crabs, sea urchins, whales, and dolphins all depend on shrimp for a considerable portion of their diet.