Biodiversity & Conservation

A burrowing mud shrimp - Callianassa subterranea - General information

Callianassa subterranea

Image Crown copyright - An individual of the Callianassa genus.
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Distribution map

Callianassa subterranea recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Callianassa subterranea is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Jacqueline Hill Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Malacostraca Crabs, lobsters, sand hoppers and sea slaters
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Recorded distribution is limited to the south coast of Britain, west coast of Scotland and a single site in the Kenmare River area, in southern Ireland. However, Callianassa subterranea is likely to be more widespread than records suggest.
Habitat information icon Habitat information The species creates complex burrow systems in sandy mud sediments from the lower shore to the shallow sublittoral. The burrows, which have been recorded up to 81 cm deep, consist of a multi-branched network of tunnels connected to several inhalant shafts, each terminating in a funnel shaped opening to the surface.
Text page icon Description Callianassa subterranea is a burrowing prawn up to 4 cm long. The body is elongate with a small carapace and short rostrum and is relatively soft (i.e. not strongly calcified). The chelipeds (claws) are massive and unequal and are larger in males than females of the same carapace length. The species is pale puce, sometimes darker, in colour.

This review can be cited as follows:

Jacqueline Hill 2005. Callianassa subterranea. A burrowing mud shrimp. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 19/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2836>