Pandalus danae

The Dock Shrimp or The Coon-Striped Shrimp

Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Subclass Eumalacostraca Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocymata
Infraorder Caridea
Family Pandalidae
Genus Pandalus
Species danae

Description: Size ranges up to 14 cm long; pale red color with irregular blue stripes, sometimes with white spots on body; long, slender rostrum curved upward, continues as a ridge on carapace; brown and white legs that are striped; four teeth behind eye socket; six spines on each side of the tail.

Habitat: Found on floats, mixed composition bottoms and on pilings at night.

Natural History: It is a voracious feeder, consuming zooplankton and small crustaceans. Hundreds were found on the piling in late summer at Boston Harbor. Fishing regulations regulate the capture of this species.