(Risso, 1816)

Description
Rostrum short, triangular and upturned with pointed apex; arising behind anterior margin of carapace.
Stylocerite twisted, acutely pointed with spine at apex. Outer margin of scaphocerite slightly convex, apical spine stout, exceeding lamellar portion. Third maxilliped about 1.25 x length of scaphocerite; exopod present.
Mandible without palp or molar process, but with incisor process.
Carapace with prominent branchiostegal spine.
Pereiopods 1 and 2 with slender chelae, cutting edges pectinate. Pereiopods 1-5 with exopods. Basis of pereiopod 2 with single spine; merus with 19-22 spines, occasionally less. Pleonites without dorsal carina; pleonite 6 with posterior directed spine on posterior dorsal border.
Telson slightly convex at apex, with eight terminal spines.

Remarks
In common with Pasiphaea multidentata, this species undergoes diurnal vertical migrations.

Size
Length up to 100 mm, but usually not more than 80 mm.

Colour
Normally translucent, with pinkish or red spots on pleonites and limbs.

Ecology
Appears to spawn twice a year, in early summer and early winter.

Depth range
Pelagic; down to about 20-500 m.

Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea, including Skagerrak.

World distribution
Ranges from W Norway southwards to Mediterranean and Atlantic coast of Morocco.

[After Smaldon, 1993]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Subclass Eumalacostraca
Superorder Eucarida
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyemata
Infraorder Caridea
Superfamily Pasiphaeoidea
Family Pasiphaeidae
Genus Pasiphaea
Species Pasiphaea sivado

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Pasiphaea sivado (Risso, 1816)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Alphaeus sivado | Risso, 1816

Rice, A.L., 1967. Crustacea. (Pelagic adults) Order Decapoda, V. Caridea. Families pasiphaeidae, Oplophoridae, Hippolytidae and Pandalidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 112 (1967). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

Sivertsen, E. and L.B. Holthuis, 1956. Crustacea Decapoda (the Penaeidea and Stenopodidea excepted). Rep. Sc. Exp. "Michael Sars" N Atl. Deep-Sea Exp. 1910, 5(12): 1-56, 4 plates.

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).

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