The waters around Alaska are home to five species of shrimp: spot shrimp (Pandalus platyceros), coonstripe (Pandalus hypsinotis), sidestripe (Pandalopsis dispar), humpy (Pandalus goniurus), and northern/pink shrimp (Pandalus borealis). Pandalid shrimp, those found around Alaska, generally have a slender body and have five sets of "swimmerets," or small appendages behind the walking legs that are used for swimming. Shrimp can be found at a variety of depths, with spot and coonstripe shrimp preferring rock piles, coral gardens, and pinnacle areas. Northern/pink, sidestripe, and humpy shrimp are more often found in muddy bottom areas.
Alaska area shrimp are known to seasonally migrate between deeper and more shallow waters, and also to move up and down the water column. This looks like it may be a northern/pink shrimp, which are known to move off the sea floor in the evening and return the next morning. They can be identified by their uniform pink color with no identifying spots or stripes.
More information about the Alaskan shrimp species can be found in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Notebook Series, Shrimp entry.
The fact that you are seeing shrimp where they have not been seen before is very interesting and may be significant, as an indication of a trend as opposed to a random event. Range and seasonal changes of many marine species are occurring as a result of climate change. See Potential impacts of climate change on Northeast Pacific marine
foodwebs and fisheries. We would be interested to learn if you continue to see shrimp in this area and we encourage other LEO Members to share their observations on shrimp and other marine species.
