The crinoid shrimp, or feather star shrimpJones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. Hippolyte catagrapha, is a species of shrimp in the family Hippolytidae
Description
Crinoid shrimps grow to up to 3 cm in total length. They are well camouflaged shrimps which live on a host crinoid, the elegant feather star, Tropiometra carinata.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa
Distribution These animals are found off the South African coast in False Bay and have been seen from 10 to at least 30 m underwater. They are probably endemic to this area. There is evidence however, that these shrimp exist elsewhere in the world with the species recently observed in the Philippines.
Ecology These shrimps have so far only been seen in association with crinoids. They probably eat the wastes of their host.
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