(Linnaeus, 1758)

Description
Rostrum unarmed, half length of eye or slightly more, triangular with rounded apex. Median line of carapace with anteriorly directed spine in anterior quarter; antennal, pterygostomian and hepatic spines present.
Stylocerite acutely pointed, about half length of antennular peduncle. Apical spine of scaphocerite exceeding lamellar portion. Third maxilliped equal in length to scaphocerite; exopod and arthrobranch present.
Mandible with molar process only, teeth sharply pointed.
Pereiopod 1 sub-chelate, stout.
Pereiopod 2 extends to 0.75 x length of propus of pereiopod 1; dactyl of pereiopod 2 about 0.25 x length of propus. Pleonite 6 smooth dorsally, without groove(s) or carina(e). Endopods of pleopods 2-5 two-segmented, without appendix interna.
Telson with two pairs of small lateral spines.

Remarks
This is the common shrimp of sandy bays and beaches. Most authors note C. crangon to be a dioecious species, although some evidence suggests that it is a protandrous hermaphrodite. This is still a matter of conjecture (see Tiews, 1970). Important commercial fisheries for this species exist off the coasts of Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. It is also fished on a smaller scale from the east and west coasts of Britain.

Size
Length up to 90 mm, usually less.

Colour
A mottled grey or brown.

Ecology
Found on sandy and muddy grounds. Penetrates the lower reaches of estuaries and is common in sandy bays. Hyperbenthic species, may swim up at night, mostly confined to the nepheloid layer; adults may get caught with pelagic sampling. Ovigerous females occur at different times in different localities. There are often two or more spawning periods, and in some localities (e.g. Plymouth), a few ovigerous females occur throughout the year. Elsewhere, breeding periods are restricted (e.g. February to June in the Bristol Channel).

Depth range
Mid-shore-150 m.

Distribution in the North Sea
All North Sea; larvae reported from CPR areas D1, D2, C1, C2 (Lindley, 1987) CPR/NorthSea .

World distribution
Ranges from the White Sea southwards into the Baltic and down to the Mediterranean.

[Mainly after Smaldon, 1993]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Subclass Eumalacostraca
Superorder Eucarida
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyemata
Infraorder Caridea
Superfamily Crangonoidea
Family Crangonidae
Genus Crangon
Species Crangon crangon

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Crangon crangon (Linnaeus, 1758)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Cancer crangon | Linnaeus, 1758

Hamond, R., 1971. The leptocostracan, euphausiid, stomatopod, and decapod Crustacea of Norfolk. Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, 22(2): 90-112.

Hayward, P.J. and J.S. Ryland, 1990. Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Smaldon, G., 1979. British coastal shrimps and prawns. Keys and notes for the identification of the species. Synopses of the British fauna, 15.

Smaldon, G., 1993. Coastal shrimps and prawns. Synopses of the British fauna, 15. (Second edition revised and enlarged by L.B. Holthuis and C.H.J.M. Fransen).

van der Baan, S.M., L.B. Holthuis and B. Schrieken, 1972. Decapoda and decapod larvae in the surface plankton from the Southern North Sea near "Texel" lightship. Zool. Bijdr. Leiden, 13: 74-97.

Wedemeyer, H., 1913. Die Carididen der Nordsee. Wissentschaffliche Meeresuntersuchungen (Kiel), 15: 107-164.

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