Heptacarpus taylori (Stimpson, 1857)

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 88

Heptacarpus taylori (Stimpson, 1857)

( Fig. 21I, Pl. 3E)

Hippolyte taylori Stimpson, 1857b: 500 . Heptacarpus taylori . — Holmes 1900: 199, pl. 3, figs. 52, 53. — Holthuis 1947: 13 — Kozloff 1974: 167.— Word & Charwat

1976: 129. — Chace & Abbott 1980: 569. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 198. — Green & Butler 1988: 4, fig. 2. — Wicksten

1988a: 242; 1990b: 595. — Chace 1997: 45. — Kuris et al. 2007: 639, pl. 318 D. Spirontocaris taylori . — Rathbun 1904: 101. — Schmitt 1921: 67, fig. 45.— Johnson & Snook 1927: 307, fig. 259d, 263.

Diagnosis. Rostrum very short, not reaching cornea of eye, with 5 or 6 dorsal, no ventral teeth. Second, third segments of antennular peduncle each with spine, first segment with 3 spinules, stylocerite reaching to end of first segment. Third maxilliped, pereopods 1–3 with epipods. Pereopods 3–5 sturdy, with spinose bifid dactyls. Merus of pereopods 3–5 with 1 spine each. Pleura of abdominal somites 1–3 rounded, 4, 5 with posterolateral points. Telson with rounded apex, 3 pairs dorsolateral spines. Males with heavier third maxillipeds than females. Male total length 25 mm, female 32 mm.

Color in life. Highly variable, including red-brown, greenish with white carapace or mottled colors. mottled brown, with white carapace, reddish brown abdomen, solid green or with mid-dorsal white stripe. The color notes are from shrimp from Pillar Point, San Mateo County, California. Well camouflaged among algae or sea grasses. Johnson & Snook (1927, fig. 263) included a photograph of a shrimp with a saddle-like mark.

Habitat and depth. Among algae, intertidal zone to 13 m.

Range. Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia ; Dillon Beach, California to Magdalena Bay, Baja California . Type locality Monterey, California .