Armed nylon shrimp (Heterocarpus ensifer)

Description: These little red shrimp hatch from spectacular bright blue eggs. They may all start life as males and eventually change sex later in life. This might explain why the female armed nylon shrimp are larger than males. Armed nylon shrimp mostly live on sand or mud bottom, but they have also been observed around deep reefs.

Geographic Distribution

Figure 1: Relative probability of occurrence of Armed nylon shrimp (Heterocarpus ensifer) based on computer generated distribution maps. Data source: Aquamaps

Figure 2: Approximate depth range of Armed nylon shrimp (black box). Slope of seafloor is a generalized representation of the Gulf of Mexico shelf and outer continental shelf.