Falmouth shrimps end up in aquarium (From Falmouth Packet)

Falmouth shrimps end up in aquarium

5:17pm Tuesday 11th November 2008 in News

A pair of rare Mediterranean pistol shrimps caught off Falmouth have gone on display at Newquay’s Blue Reef Aquarium.

The bright orange shrimps were caught by fisherman Tim Bailey while he was crabbing two miles south of Pendennis point in Falmouth Bay.

Now the tiny shrimps, named after the loud cracking noise they produce to stun their prey, are recovering in a special quarantine tank at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay.

Blue Reef curator Matt Slater said: “Only a handful of this type of shrimp has ever been recorded in UK waters, although their numbers do appear to be on the rise in recent years.

“I started to think they were something special while I was driving back from Falmouth. I kept on hearing this cracking noise from the back of the vehicle as if someone was popping bubble wrap.

“It wasn’t until we unloaded the bucket that I realised the sound was coming from the shrimps snapping their claws together.”

In the wild pistol or snapping shrimps use their claws to produce loud cracking sounds. The noise is so loud – up to 218 decibels - that scientists believe they use it to stun their prey.

This means that pistol shrimps are competing with giants such as sperm and beluga whales for the titles of the oceans loudest animals.