Records of the feather star shrimp Hippolyte prideauxiana in the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, northern Scotland—a geographical range expansion

Abstract

The decapod Hippolyte prideauxiana is a cryptic commensal of the crinoid Antedon bifida , giving rise to its common name ‘the feather star shrimp’. In 2010 and 2013 H. prideauxiana was recorded in the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands (‘north isles’), northern Scotland. These observations widen the known geographical distribution of this species by 400 km north from the west coast of Scotland where it was first recorded in 1997. Whilst it is possible that these new records are the result of a range expansion due to climate change it is more likely that this species has been overlooked due to its cryptic coloration, limited awareness of this species and increase in survey effort in the north of Scotland using SCUBA.