![]() “We knew it wasn’t wurdemanni,” Aguilar said. But the second immediately struck him as something different. ![]() When they brought them to Aguilar’s desk at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), he recognized one of them as the Chesapeake’s native species, Lysmata wurdemanni. It’s a recipe for confusion when trying to identify a new catch.īiologists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science first found the two shrimp. Color patterns also aren’t well-document for many species. Part of the problem: Researchers haven’t always been consistent in how they described the shrimp’s features. No one knows how many different peppermint shrimp species exist. Peppermint shrimp, with their translucent shells and candy cane-like stripes, are among the most popular aquarium shrimp in the world. In a new study, Aguilar and SERC’s Fisheries Conservation Lab finally unraveled a taxonomic knot over a century in the making. But their discovery would send Smithsonian biologist Rob Aguilar spiraling down a rabbit hole of century-old field notes, museum fires and World War II bombings. It seemed like such an innocent catch: two peppermint shrimp, netted in the lower Chesapeake Bay during the 2013 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey. (Credit: Rob Aguilar/SERC and Arthur Anker) The criss-crossing stripes mark it as belonging to the Rauli Clade, possibly a different species. ![]() Right: Peppermint shrimp found in Singapore, once considered Lysmata vittata. How the appearance of a nonnative shrimp in the Chesapeake unearthed a 160-year-old naming mystery Left: Peppermint shrimp Lysmata vittata found in Chesapeake Bay, now considered the Bruce Clade or “true” Lysmata vittata. ![]()
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