If you were to investigate an estuary (where freshwater rivers meet oceans) or intertidal flat along the United States’ west coast, you might happen across crustaceans that are commonly known as blue mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis).
Blue mud shrimp are suspension feeders, meaning that they catch floating food particles or tiny organisms like plankton to eat. They are also known for creating deep Y-shaped burrows in intertidal mudflats ranging from Alaska to Southern California. These diminutive diggers are considered ecosystem engineers, and despite their small size are capable of creating major ecological impacts at their burrow sites. The burrow-dwelling habits of the mud shrimp promote nutrient remineralization and positively affect carbon cycling in their neighborhoods. This happens when blue mud shrimp pump water into their burrows, which helps introduce new nutrients to the burrow sediment and recycle older nutrients and microbes back into the water.
However, these burrowing shrimp are rapidly becoming harder to find, falling prey to the effects of an invasive isopod parasite called Orthione griffensis. Dr. Jingchun Li of CUMNH’s Invertebrate Zoology department is currently studying the relationship between Upogebia pugettensis and the invasive parasite. The work aims to understand the current ecology and distribution of U. pugettensis and its parasite O. griffenis, as well as the genetic diversity of both species. This research will help develop conservation plans to prevent the continued disappearance of the blue mud shrimp. This particular specimen was collected by Dr. John Chapman of the Hatfield Marine Station at Oregon state university. Dr. Chapman and Dr. Jingchun Li are co-Principal investigators on this project.
Chapman, J., & Carter, C. (2014). A Rapid Intertidal Megafauna Survey Method Applied to Upogebia pugettensis, and Its Introduced Parasite, Orthione griffensis. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 34(3), 349-356.
Campos, E., De Campos, A., & Manriquez, I. (2009). Intertidal Thalassinidean Shrimps (Thalassinidea, Callianassidae and Upogebiidae) of the West Coast of Baja California, Mexico: Annotated Checklist, Key for Identification, and Symbionts. Crustaceana, 82(10), 1249-1263.
D'Andrea, A., & DeWitt, T. (2009). Geochemical Ecosystem Engineering by the Mud Shrimp Upogebia pugettensis (Crustacea: Thalassinidae) in Yaquina Bay, Oregon: Density-Dependent Effects on Organic Matter Remineralization and Nutrient Cycling. Limnology and Oceanography, 54(6), 1911-1932.
Griffen, B. (2009). Effects of a newly invasive parasite on the burrowing mud shrimp, a widespread ecosystem engineer. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 391, 73-83.