Appearance
- Thick, rigid, stony shell; short hairs cover body and appendages
- Off-white to pinkish in color; dorsal (back) surface darker and blotched or barred with lighter shades
- Legs red to reddish-purple with white bars
- Decapod crustaceans with five pairs of legs; first three sets of walking legs with claws
- Rostrum short, not extending beyond outer edge of eyes
- Antennas shorter than length of body
- No spots on abdominal segments
Similar Species
Other rock shrimp species
Size
Up to 6 inches in length, but most brown rock shrimp found in shallow waters are less than 2 inches long.
Habitat
Found on sand bottoms in water 80–215 feet deep, although they have been found in depths of 600 feet. Active at night and burrow in the sand during daytime. Larval rock shrimp grow and develop in coastal estuaries and travel to offshore areas as they mature.
Behavior
Juvenile and adults feed on the ocean floor, mainly eating small bivalve mollusks and crustaceans.
Reproduction
Spawn year-round in offshore waters, with peaks between November and January; females can spawn three or more times in one season.
Additional Information
Highly productive and have short life span, usually less than 2 years. Largest of six rock shrimp species found in Southeast U.S.