Grass Shrimp

Grass shrimp are important indicators of human impacts on estuaries and the coastal environment.

Grass shrimp testing coupled with ecological monitoring and biomarkers--indicators of contaminant exposure--may help coastal managers make informed environmental decisions using this crustacean as a model indicator species.

The grass shrimp is widely distributed along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts in tidal marsh systems. These shrimp are ecologically important estuarine crustaceans that are studied from both toxicological and ecological perspectives.

"These shrimp are important dietary components for many commercially valuable fish and crustacean species, and their decline can prove threatening to the estuarine food chain," said Peter Key, research fishery biologist with the NOAA Ocean Service in Charleston, S.C.  

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: NOAA