Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Eumalacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Hippolytidae

Parhippolyte sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981)


Synonyms: Somersiella sterreri Hart & Manning, 1981

Taxonomic Characterization: Large, bright red shrimp with characteristic white bands on leg joints and three white spots on tail. Carapace with antennal and branchiostegal spines. Rostrum broad, length about 2.5 times depth, short, scarcely overreaching basal segment of antennular peduncle. Eyes pigmented, cornea broader than stalk. Seven arthrobranchs, one on the second maxilliped, two on the third and one on each of the anterior four pereopods (Hart & Manning, 1984).

 Disposition of Specimens: Male holotype and female paratype from Bermuda deposited in National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, catalog numbers USNM 184016-7.

Ecological Classification: Stygobitic

Size: Postorbital carapace length to 24.9 mm (30.7 mm including rostrum) in female paratype from Bermuda (Hart & Manning, 1984).

Number of Species in Genus: Three

Genus Range:

Aldabra: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Bahamas: Exuma Cays: P. sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981) reported in Wicksten, 1996 Grand Bahama: P. sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981) observed by Iliffe Andros: P. sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981) observed by Iliffe Bermuda: P. sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981) Fiji: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Funafuti Atoll: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Hawaii: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Loyalty Islands: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Mexico Cozumel: P. sterreri (Hart & Manning, 1981) reported in Kensley, 1988 Gulf of California: P. cavernicola Wicksten, 1996 Molluca Islands: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899 Philippines: P. uveae Borradaile, 1899

Species Range:

Closest Related Species: Closely related to P. uveae from anchialine pools of Fiji and Indonesia in the Indo West Pacific. P. uveae was recently featured on a postage stamp from Fiji making it the first anchialine species so honored. According to the accompanying documentation:

	Fiji stamp: showing sacred red prawn

"Red Prawns (Parhippolyte uveae) probably exist in Fiji because their bright red color created village superstitions, which promised shipwreck, even death to those who were tempted to remove them. Called sacred prawns by Fijians (or 'ura buta' - cooked prawn - because of their color) they are found in only two locations in Fiji: the island of Vatulele and Naweni Village on Vanua Levu. Both habitats are lava rock pools with salty, brackish water, near but not connected to the sea. In both locations, villagers need chiefly approval to approach the ponds, and both areas practice a solemn ritual of 'calling the prawns' to which the prawns seem to respond."

Habitat: Anchialine and marine caves

Ecology: Collected from inland anchialine caves from Bermuda and ocean blue holes and caves from the Bahamas and Yucatan.

Life History: An ovigerous female from Cozumel carried an estimated 2,000 tiny eggs attached to its pleopods. The small size of these eggs would suggest an extended planktonic larval stage (Kensley, 1988).

Evolutionary Origins: The genus Parhippolyte exhibits a Tethyan distributional pattern.

Conservation Status: Inhabits anchialine and marine caves from a wide area of the tropical Western Atlantic ranging from Yucatan to Bermuda.

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