KIRSTYANDREWS
Crustacean fascination
Kirsty Andrews is obsessed with finding some of our more elusive sea creatures , as this month ’ s tale of two shrimps demonstrates
In one of my earliest columns in this magazine , I wrote about my successful hunt for the snakelocks anemone shrimp Periclimenes sagittifer under Swanage pier , conducted with military precision with the assistance of my buddy , Jen . It ’ s hard to believe , but that dive was almost a decade ago now , and these days , snakelocks anemone shrimp are not common as muck exactly but they can reliably be found in significant numbers at a variety of spots along the South Coast . Last year alone , I saw them at Swanage again ; Babbacombe in Torbay ( plenty here too , especially active at night ); at Chesil beach and on the Fleur de Lys wreck - and that ’ s without even trying ! My apologies to Northern friends as I believe they ’ re still exclusive to the South Coast for now . I still appreciate a delightful , colourful Periclimenes but this year , and in fact for the past few years , my focus has shifted to the even more elusive and even more tropically coloured featherstar shrimp , Hippolyte prideuxiana . It ’ s not that I have a shrimp obsession , it ’ s just that I like looking for things , I ’ m competitive enough to enjoy a challenge , and these colourful , tiny critters are in my view some of the superstars of our UK underwater world .
My quest for this master of featherstar camouflage started as soon as I became aware of its existence a few years back . I knew the first recorded instance was on the wreck of the Dresden in Scapa Flow , so on a wrecky-tekky week I spent a happy hour hovering over the shallowest part of the wreck , peering intently at a field of featherstars and examining them one by one - unsuccessfully . Needless to say , my buddy ( or patient babysitter ) Mark drew the short straw that day ; sorry bud . I visited Shetland that same year and got the chance to chat to Rachel Shucksmith , who made that first recording : she gave me some tips on where to find them but I still was unlucky , until last year .
I must properly give thanks to my friend Terry , who found the shrimp the day before and gave such precise instructions that even this cunningly camouflaged critter was
“ My quest for this master of featherstar camouflage started as soon as I became aware of its existence ”
difficult to miss . When you ’ ve looked for so long , locating the prize is just a fabulous feeling . Even better , on returning a week later I couldn ’ t believe my eyes when I noticed not just the stunning animal but two on the same spot : male and female .
The female is the real showstopper and the male about a third of the size , with a complementary but contrasting pattern . Still , incredible to see a pair after searching so long for an individual . And , to my jawdropped astonishment , we saw three pairs on that dive . Buses and featherstar shrimp have a lot in common it seems . As well as the sightings at Scapa Flow , in Shetland and on Scotland ’ s West coast lochs , one was spotted in the Berwickshire marine reserve this year , but to my knowledge they haven ’ t made it further south yet . I wonder if , ten years from now , I will be considering them common and looking to the next excitement . For now , I will certainly still cherish every sighting . �
19