Anaspides tasmaniae
| Anaspides tasmaniae | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Anaspidacea |
| Family: | Anaspidesidae |
| Genus: | Anaspides |
| Species: | A. tasmaniae |
| Binomial name | |
| Anaspides tasmaniae | |
Anaspides tasmaniae is a species of freshwater crustacean found in Tasmania.[2] Members of the genus Anaspides are commonly known as Tasmanian mountain shrimp.[3] Mountain shrimp are often referred to as “living fossils”[3][4][5][6] since they have remained morphologically largely unchanged for over 200 million years.[3][5][4]
Taxonomy
[edit]
Anaspides tasmaniae was described by George Malcolm Thomson in 1894[2] on the basis of specimens collected from the summit of Mount Wellington, Tasmania. Thomson suggested a new genus (Anaspides) and a new family (Anaspidea) due to the animal’s unique characteristics. The name Anaspides refers to the total absence of a carapace and is derived from the Ancient Greek ἀν (“an” - lacking) and ἀσπίς (“aspis” - shield).
Anaspides tasmaniae is the type species for the genus,[3] which now includes eight species of mountain shrimp.[4][7]
Despite the common name, mountain shrimp are not true shrimp as they are not members of the order Decapoda. Recent molecular data place them as a sister group to the Euphausiacea (krill).[8][9]
Description
[edit]Anaspides tasmaniae can reach up to 35mm in length from the tip of the rostrum to the end of the telson.[3] Its colour varies from light to medium brown.[5] This species can be distinguished from similar species in the genus by the combination of the following features: eyes with a well-developed cornea,[3] an elongated telson with an evenly rounded posterior margin, the form of the antennular inner flagellum and, in males, the presence of two antennular clasping spines.[5]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]
Anaspides tasmaniae was previously thought to occur across Tasmania[5][10] but recent studies indicate that its distribution is limited to creeks, runnels and pools in just two areas: on the east and south-east sides of kunanyi/Mount Wellington up to 970m above sea level[5] as well as in and near Mount Field National Park.[11] It is mainly known from surface habitats; unlike some other members of Anaspides, the species is rarely found to live in underground cave environments.[10] The species has not been recorded on Mount Wellington Plateau (above 970m) in recent decades, likely due to changes in the habitat following major bushfires in the 1930s.[5]
Like all members of Anaspides, Anaspides tasmaniae is restricted to a narrow range of temperatures.[11] Its current known altitude range is 320m to 970m above sea level.[5] Its distribution is strongly influenced by Pleistocene glaciations which formed the alpine habitats where it occurs today.[11] The two regions where the species persists are post glacial relicts, indicating that the species inhabited a wider range during glacial periods.[11]
Conservation status
[edit]Anaspides tasmaniae is not currently included on state or federal lists of threatened fauna.[12][13] The species is considered to be vulnerable in light of new data on its limited geographic range.[5] Scientists have noted the need for reassessment of its conservation status.[3][5]
In literature
[edit]
In 1907 zoologist Geoffrey Watkins Smith arrived in Tasmania to study the island’s freshwater crustaceans.[14] In his 1909 book “A Naturalist in Tasmania”[15] he describes his first encounter with Anaspides tasmaniae:
Goethe somewhere remarks that the most insignificant natural object is, as it were, a window through which we can look into infinity. And certainly when I first saw the Mountain Shrimp walking quietly about in its crystal-clear habitations, as if nothing of any great consequence had happened since its ancestors walked in a sea peopled with strange reptiles, by a shore on which none but cold-blooded creatures plashed among the rank forests of fern-like trees, before ever bird flew or youngling was suckled with milk, time for me was annihilated and the imposing kingdom of man shrunk indeed to a little measure.
— Geoffrey Watkins Smith, A Naturalist in Tasmania, page 71
- ↑ George M. Thomson (August 1894). "On a Freshwater Schizopod from Tasmania". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology. 6 (3): 285–303. doi:10.1111/J.1096-3642.1894.TB00482.X. ISSN 1945-9440. Wikidata Q56155463.
- 1 2 Thomson, George M. (1894). "III. On a Freshwater Schizopod from Tasmania". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series: Zoology. 6 (3): 285–303. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1894.tb00482.x.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ahyong, Shane T. (2016-12-07). "The Tasmanian Mountain Shrimps, Anaspides Thomson, 1894 (Crustacea, Syncarida, Anaspididae)". Records of the Australian Museum. 68 (7): 313–364. doi:10.3853/j.2201-4349.68.2016.1669. ISSN 2201-4349.
- 1 2 3 Höpel, Christoph G; Yeo, Darren; Ahyong, Shane T; Meier, Rudolf; Richter, Stefan (2023-06-01). "First mitochondrial genomes of Anaspidacea (Malacostraca, Crustacea) and the phylogenetic relationships of mountain shrimps ( Anaspides Thomson, 1894) and their relatives within Anaspidesidae". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 43 (2). doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruad028. ISSN 0278-0372.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Höpel, Christoph G.; Ahyong, Shane T.; Richter, Stefan (2021-05-20). "Genetic structure and new occurrence records of the iconic Tasmanian mountain shrimp Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson, 1893) (Anaspidesidae : Anaspidacea) reveal relictual distribution in southern Tasmania". Australian Journal of Zoology. 68 (1): 45–53. doi:10.1071/ZO20100. ISSN 0004-959X.
- ↑ "Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) | Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania". parks.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
- ↑ Höpel, Christoph G.; Richter, Stefan; Ahyong, Shane T. (2023-03-15). "A new species of Tasmanian mountain shrimp, Anaspides driesseni sp. nov. (Malacostraca, Anaspidacea, Anaspidesidae)". Records of the Australian Museum. 75 (1): 25–43. doi:10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1829. ISSN 2201-4349.
- ↑ Bernot, James P; Owen, Christopher L; Wolfe, Joanna M; Meland, Kenneth; Olesen, Jørgen; Crandall, Keith A (2023-08-03). Pupko, Tal (ed.). "Major Revisions in Pancrustacean Phylogeny and Evidence of Sensitivity to Taxon Sampling". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 40 (8). doi:10.1093/molbev/msad175. ISSN 0737-4038. PMC 10414812. PMID 37552897.
- ↑ Schwentner, Martin; Richter, Stefan; Rogers, D. Christopher; Giribet, Gonzalo (2018-08-29). "Tetraconatan phylogeny with special focus on Malacostraca and Branchiopoda: highlighting the strength of taxon-specific matrices in phylogenomics". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285 (1885). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1524. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 6125901. PMID 30135168.
- 1 2 Höpel, Christoph G.; Ahyong, Shane T.; Kapun, Martin; Schwentner, Martin; Richter, Stefan (2025). "Phylogeography of the Anaspides richardsoni species clade (Anaspidacea, Anaspidesidae): glaciation and recolonization of the Tasmanian Central Plateau and the question of paraphyletic species". Cladistics. 41 (5): 470–492. doi:10.1111/cla.70005. ISSN 0748-3007. PMC 12466092. PMID 40719150.
- 1 2 3 4 Höpel, Christoph G; Ahyong, Shane T; Eberhard, Stefan M; Fordyce, Stephen; Kapun, Martin; Schwentner, Martin; Richter, Stefan (2025-11-03). "Comparative phylogeography and speciation in correlation with cave colonization in Tasmanian mountain shrimps (Crustacea: Anaspidacea: Anaspides )". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 205 (3). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf140. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ↑ "Threatened Species List - Invertebrate Animals A-D | Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania". nre.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna". Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. 2026-03-17. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Obituary, Geoffrey Watkins Smith". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania: 286–287. 1916.
- ↑ Smith, Geoffrey (1909). A Naturalist in Tasmania. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 71.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)