| Is it a Prawn or a Shrimp?
Alas, there is no absolutely
correct answer. In common usage the names are interchangeable, and there
are lots of prawn-like or shrimp-like animals to confuse the novice rockpooler.
Marine biologists will use the scientific names.
However, the casual rockpooler
wanting to put a name to what he finds can follow the terms used for British
species only:
The Prawn
is transparent with long legs and is found amongst the weed in rock pools
on the shore. There are several different species. In the south and west
the species in the pools are called by the scientific name of Palaemon.
The Shrimp
is the sandy coloured crustacean that lives in the sandy shallows. It has
short legs and buries itself in the sand. It is called by the scientific
name of Crangon and is found all
around the British coast.
12
May 2008
Even
more perfect conditions, a bit cooler and no breeze and only the occasional
rogue swell from a passing ship, my Brown
Shrimp, Crangon crangon,
haul at Southwick Beach was about two pints.Other
captures in the shrimp nets were a few shrimp length Lesser
Weever,
Echiichthys
vipera, a few small to full sized
Solenettes
(Slipper
Soles),
Buglossidium
luteum, one large fully grown 5-Bearded
Rockling, Ciliata mustela, (which
looked very much like a 3-Bearded Rockling, Gaidropsarus
vulgaris, until the beards were counted),
one juvenile Dragonet,
Callionymus
lyra,
a few Vernal
Crabs, Liocarcinus
vernalis, one damaged (missing a claw)
Masked
Crab, Corystes cassivelaunus,
about a dozen Shore Crabs, Carcinus
maenas, with a few netted eating shrimps,
a few very small swimming crabs Portumnus
latipes, oneSouth-clawed
Hermit Crab,
Diogenes pugilator,
in a Sting Winkle
shell, and a colourful Little Cuttle Sepiola.
BMLSS
Crabs of the Seashore
11
May 2008
Perfect
shrimping conditions were encountered on the morning low tide at Southwick
Beach (1.2 metres
at 10:40 am)
on a sunny hazy day with an air temperature of 22.1
°C and a gentle swell. The haul included
plentiful Brown Shrimps, Crangon
crangon, with all three shrimpers
getting more than enough for a meal each in under an hour, one fully grown
Lesser
Weever,
Echiichthys
vipera, and a few small ones, a few
small Solenettes
(Slipper
Soles),
Buglossidium
luteum, a few Vernal
Crabs, Liocarcinus
vernalis, one damaged (missing a claw)
Masked
Crab, Corystes cassivelaunus,and
two
green Shore Crabs, Carcinus
maenas.
5 May
2008
On
Bank
Holiday Monday, it felt warm for the first
time this year as the temperature reached 20.0
°C at midday.
The wind was from the south-east at 13 mph (Force
2) on the low tide
in the late afternoon.
Shoreham
Weather
My
first shrimping expedition
of the year at Lancing produced a moderate
amount of Brown Shrimps, Crangon
crangon, plus one Lesser
Weever, Echiichthys
vipera, one small Solenette
(Slipper
Sole),
Buglossidium
luteum, two Vernal
Crabs, Liocarcinus
vernalis, and South-clawed
Hermit Crabs,
Diogenes pugilator,
amongst more weed than is usual at the beginning of May.
The Force 2 produced an occasional wave with a breaking whitecap.
The main problem (east of Lancing Sailing Club) was a patch of soft sand
(almost certainly caused by bait digging).
Sussex
Marine Life
27
April 2008
Early
morning shrimping was poor with just 20 Brown
Shrimps, Crangon crangon.
Report
by Peter Talbot-Elsden
8
June 2007
Whilst
shrimping off Southwick, I caught two Thornback
Rays, Raja clavata, in the large
push-net. The largest of the rays was estimated at over 20 cm across the
wings.
Report
by Peter Talbot-Elsden
4
June 2007
Shrimping
at Southwick produced one Sole.
Solea
solea, six small Solenettes
(Slipper Soles), two types of Hermit
Crabs, and sandy
coloured crabs as well.
Report
by Peter Talbot-Elsden
BMLSS
Hermit Crabs
24
May 2007
A
shrimping expedition to Lancing Beach
(just to the west of Lancing Sailing Club) on a low neap 1.9 metre tide
revealed the sandy shallows and a clear sea on a calm day and the haul
in 40 minutes or so using my small 60 cm push-net was about 100
Brown
Shrimps Crangon crangon,
small flatfish fry,
one small Plaice,
occasional small Solenettes (Slipper Soles)
and
one second year Sole.
Solea
solea, a handful of South-clawed
Hermit Crabs,
Diogenes pugilator, a
few very small
Common Hermit Crabs,
Pagurus
bernhardus in Grey
Topshells, one Vernal
Crab, Liocarcinus
vernalis, and a few of the swimming
crabs Portumnus latipes.
BMLSS
Crabs
16
March 2007
My
first shrimping (using my 2 foot wide folding net) expedition of 2007
took me to a breezy (Force
4) Shoreham Beach (just west of Weald
Dyke) and half an hour push-netting brought me about twenty Brown
Shrimps, one Shore
Prawn, a small Plaice
and three Vernal Crabs, Liocarcinus
vernalis.
BMLSS
Crabs of the Seashore
16
June 2006
The
shrimp
haul at
Southwick
included a Little Cuttle and
a 5-Bearded Rockling, Ciliata
mustela.
Report
by Peter Talbot-Elsden
31
May 2006
One
day later, the junior shrimp net
was repaired with a bolt and wing-nut and there were over a hundred Brown
Shrimps off Lancing
beach (east Widewater), a handful of South-clawed
Hermit Crabs,
Diogenes pugilator and
a colourful Little Cuttle Sepiola,
a small Solenette
and flatfish fry.
Intertidal
2006
BMLSS
Prawns & Shrimps
30
May 2006
My
junior (metre wide) shrimp net
broke under the weight of loose mixed seaweed off Lancing beach (east Widewater)
and there were just two Brown Shrimps
and a South-clawed Hermit Crab,
Diogenes
pugilator,
in a Netted
Dogwhelk shell.
5 March
2006
A
shrimping expedition (push-net) to the sandy shallows of Southwick
beach produced four small Sand-eels,
Ammodytes tobianus, but these were so
small that most of these elongate fish would have escaped through the netting.
Small fish fry were caught in the net as well.
Report
by Peter Talbot-Elsden
Tim
Hoy with a home made shrimp-net in Ireland 2004
2
May 2005
A
Solenette,
Buglossidium
luteum, and a Plaice
in the shrimp push-net off Southwick, but there were only ten Brown
Shrimps on the low neaps. This is a very
poor shrimping return for April or May. However,
these two fish have not been knowing caught before whilst shrimping or
rockpooling,
so this was a successful outing.
Loaded Shrimping Bikes
at Southwick beach
Pashley and a Gundle
INTEREXTRADING
FOR
SHRIMP NETS AND OTHER FISHING EQUIPMENT
Shorewatch
Project EMail Glaucus@hotmail.com
All messages will receive
a reply.
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