Processidae Ortmann, 1896

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 96

Family Processidae Ortmann, 1896

Processids, known as night shrimps, resemble the lysmatids in having slender second pereopods with a multiarticulated carpus. Unlike in the lysmatids, the rostrum is short and slender, without teeth or with a bifid apex. The eye is large. At least one of the first pereopods is chelate. Pereopods 3–5 are long and slender. Processids are most common on sandy or muddy bottoms off beaches or in deeper areas, and are active at night.

Schmitt (1921) reported only one species of processid, Processa canaliculata , from California. The specimens on which his account was based actually belong to two species: Ambidexter panamensis Abele, 1972 and Processa peruviana Wicksten, 1983 . Only A. panamensis seems to maintain a reproducing population in the area.