Burrowing Mud Shrimp

Callianassa shrimps are burrowing, deposit-feeding crustaceans that live in complex burrow systems. These burrows have numerous galleries and chambers and are connected to the surface by a tube. The burrows are found down to a depth of about 50 cm in marine soft sediments (Witbaard & Duineveld, 1989).

The parasitic isopod lone thoracica can sometimes be found in the branchial chamber beneath the carapace of C. subterranea (Rowden & Jones, 1994).

In the Dutch part of the North Sea this decapod is mainly found at the Oyster Ground, an area with very fine sediments containing a high amount of silt. Pure sand seems to be avoided (Adema et al., 1982; Witbaard & Duineveld, 1989). It is a dominant species at the Oyster Ground and shows the highest density and biomass in the area of the Frisian Front.

Callianassidae are decapod shrimps with a large pincher on just one of the front legs. They are superficially similar to lobsters. C. subterranea is one of the smaller species of the family. it can reach up to 46 mm overall length. Its rostrum is minute. lts colour is pale puce, but sometimes quite dark (Lutze, 1938; Hayward & Ryland, 1990).